5

 

Jennifer had said she wanted Katie home by dinner time, 6:00 PM, for a discussion. After talking with Josh until 5:30, the bus couldn’t have gotten her home before 6:30. Josh had a bit of a lead foot, but he got her safely home. Reliable, handsome Josh had saved her again.

Katie’s watch said 6:01 when she waved goodbye to Josh and stepped through the front door of her home.

Lee, the only Dad she’d known, met her at the door. He was never at a loss for words, but his wan expression and speechlessness told her that Jenn had briefed him on the day’s events. He wrapped her in his arms. “Katie, I don’t know whether to spank you or kiss you.”

“Dad, how about neither? So…Mom told you about the shooter?”

“The duty forecaster heard it on TV before Mom called me. I could’ve lost my entire family today.” He hugged her again.

“But you didn’t. I don’t think God would have wanted that.”

“Kaykay!” Grady.

“Kaykay!” And Gracie.

Grady and Grace ran from the hallway, hands dripping water. Their cold wet fingers gripped her bare legs as they each picked a leg to hug.

Lee released her to the arms of the twins. “Looks like you’re in good hands.”

Grady stepped back and looked up with a serious expression. “The bad man got locked up in jail, Kaykay.”

“Yeah.” Grace said, looking up from the leg she still clung to. “We saw it on TV. They showed your picture and Mommy, too.”

“Mommy’s gonna talk to you after dinner.” Grady’s words became serious, accompanied by melodramatic facial expressions.

Grace tugged on her arm. “And Mommy cried, Kaykay.”

Grady tugged on her other arm. “We told her to be happy because Josh catched you and Peterson catched the bad man.”

Katie suspected Mom had more on the agenda than worries about a terrorist. “Mommy is happy, Grady. I think she just needs some time to forget about the bad man.”

And to get used to seeing Josh around, at least until our dissertations are written.

As they finished dinner, Lee’s gaze darted from Jennifer to Katie. “You want me to clean up Grace and Grady?”

Jennifer looked his way and gave him a weak smile. “Would you, please?”

“Sure.” Lee raised his eyebrows. “You’ll cover for me, right?”

Everything had seemed different while they ate. The usually warm atmosphere and loving glances were absent, replaced by a tension that flowed through them like an electric current. Even the twins were a bit subdued.

“Katie,” Jenn…Mom, nodded toward the family room. “I need to have a word with you.”

‘A word’. It was going to be a lot more than a single word and more than a single subject. For the first time in five years, Katie didn’t know what to expect. She had done what in her heart she knew God had wanted her to do. She had nothing to apologize for, so why all the apprehension?

She moved Grady’s computer toy and sat down on the couch.

Jennifer closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in the family room. She took a seat in the easy chair next to the couch.

Katie couldn’t hold in her words. The apprehension pushed them out, but in hushed tones. “Mom, am I in some sort of trouble with you and Dad?”

Jenn shook her head. “No. You’re not in trouble. Lee and I just have some concerns. Me, more than your dad.”

“OK.” She met her mom’s gaze and saw watery eyes. Jenn almost never cried. Whatever it was couldn’t be anything good.

“I didn’t complete my PhD program.” Jenn started slowly. “When I took the research position with NSA, I switched gears and explored wireless communications. So…I’m glad you were able to pick up my research and carry it forward.”

“Thanks for helping me get started, Mom. You saved me at least a year of spin-up time.”

“Katie, let’s cut to the chase. I know what you must have done to further my work enough to find that Nigerian terrorist. Now that you’ve had one success, I know what you’re going to do next.” She paused and wiped her eyes. “You’re just like me, Kate.”

Kate? For the first time Jenn had called her something other than Katie. It derailed her train of thought. Josh…he called her Kate, too.

“You’re all grown up. About to turn twenty-one. I want you to turn twenty-two. I want Lee and me to enjoy your kids, our grandkids. So please promise me this.”

Katie tensed at the words ‘please promise’, anticipating what was coming.

Jenn sighed. “I have no problem with your dissertation probing the theoretical aspects of your research. But promise me you’ll not delve into the practical application.”

“But, Mom, I know I can unravel some well-hidden terrorist conspiracies. Stop them before they can attack. This framework takes Internet forensics and data mining to a whole new level of capability.”

“See. You are just like me. Except for being nearly eight inches taller, your blue eyes, and blonde hair, it could be me sitting on that couch. That’s what frightens me, especially after today.”

Katie couldn’t make that promise. She had planned to give Josh the theoretical part, while she took the application side of the research, the kind of work she hoped to do for the FBI someday. “Mom, I won’t do anything stupid. I—”

“But, Kate, you take risks. Too many of them. You don’t have to do that to make us, or anybody else, need you. Or to make us love you more. You know that.”

“I know you and Lee love me. I’ve enjoyed that love and your blessing for five years. But I don’t know where this research will lead, and I’ve already split it between Josh and me. I promise to be very careful and keep out of trouble. But I must do some probing over the Internet. If I find anything significant, I’ll turn it over to the FBI, to Peterson, immediately.”

Her mom nodded, slowly. “That’s the answer I expected. Not what I hoped for. Please, Katie…”

Back to being her child again.

“…Be careful. When I recognized you on the roof today, I…”

“Mom, I think Someone else was directing things today. I was just an instrument playing in the orchestra.”

“You and Josh were the orchestra. Speaking of Joshua West…”

This strange, undefined relationship with Josh was her first relationship of any kind with a young man. Katie had survived the first part of this discussion with her plans intact, but now…

A knock sounded on the door. “May I come in now?” Dad’s voice.

“Come in, sweetheart.” Jenn swiveled toward the door.

“Grace and Grady are engrossed in a nature video. Where are we here?” He looked from Katie to Jennifer.

“We’re to the part where Katie finds potential applications for her work.” Jennifer pointed to a spot on the couch beside Katie.

“So, how did cease and desist go?” He sat down.

“It came and went.” Jennifer gave him a palms-up shrug.

Her dad sighed and met Katie’s gaze. There was no hostility in his bright blue eyes, only concern. “Katie, after the events of today, we certainly don’t want our family becoming a target for every deranged, deluded terrorist dude on the planet.”

Jennifer leaned forward in her chair. “Lee, what happened today wasn’t caused by Katie’s work. It was stopped by it.” Another palms-up shrug.

“Yeah. It’s a double-edged sword, isn’t it? Reminds me of you, Jenn, when—”

“Maybe I’d rather not be reminded right now. Anyway, Katie promised to be careful. Now on the matter of—”

“Of Joshua West?” Lee said, cutting in.

Here come the fatherly concerns. She had never had a boyfriend. Only a few friends who happened to be boys. Friendships without any romantic inclination on her part, but…

“Katie, ask Josh to have dinner with us on Saturday.”

“But, Mom, maybe he has other—”

“Use your imagination. He’ll come if you ask.” Jenn turned to face Lee, “So, Lee, in three days you can talk with him. I’ll make sure Granddad is here, too.” Jennifer gave Katie a crooked smile.

Poor Josh. Three of the most intimidating people on the planet were going to grill him on Saturday. She smiled, and then giggled. His interest in her would be tested to the max. Would he pass or fail? Continue their fast-growing friendship or slink away like— what was it the cowboys said in the old westerns Lee loved to watch—like a lily-livered coward? If she were a gambling woman, she would put her money on Josh.

But Jenn had called Katie a risk taker. So, maybe she was a gambling woman. Maybe she had already put her money on Josh.

If you slink away like a lily-livered coward, I’ll kill you, Joshua West.