Martinez sat at his desk watching the clock. Shawn hadn’t made it back yet and it was almost time to meet up with Robison’s parole officer. Picking up his cell phone, he sent him a quick text. “Dude, where are you?” He relaxed in his chair and waited. No response. He was growing irritated. Putting the phone down he checked his email and his calendar. He picked up his phone again and hit the home button. “Damn it!”
Growing impatient, he decided to send one more text with a mere question mark. Finally, Shawn text him back, “Sorry man. Got held up. Meet us at Robinson’s in ten. The address on Washington I sent you.” Jumping out of his seat, Martinez grabbed his jacket. Holden was towering in the doorway, startling him. “Damn, Chief!”
Grinning he said, “Payback’s a bitch, eh? Where ya headed?”
Although he hated lying to him, he replied, “I got information on the credit card that was used to buy the flowers sent to Liz. I’m headed over to the convenience store where it was purchased.” Technically, he was telling the truth. He was just leaving out some information.
“Nice work. Let me know how that turns out. How are you and Johnson coming along on the Marcus Young shooting?”
He drew his lips in. “Unfortunately, it’s kind of at a standstill. Marcus hasn’t provided any more information since the last time we spoke to him. We have a facial composite of the perp, but honestly, I think he’s jerking us around on the description. He probably owed money on a deal and he doesn’t want to hurt his business. Might have to file this one away.”
Holden grunted in agreement. “How ‘bout you try talking to him once more and then we’ll chalk it off as an uncooperative victim?”
Glancing at the time he replied, “Sure thing. You want Johnson and I to tag-team it?”
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose he said, “No need for all that. Just one last college try should do it.” He turned to walk back to his office.
Throwing on his coat and following the chief into the hallway, Martinez promised, “I’ll swing by the residence after the convenience store.”
Without turning around, Holden swung his long arm up and waved.
Hastily running out of the department and to his sedan, Martinez drove to Washington Street and turned down Adams. Reaching Robinson’s house, he pulled over to the curb and parked behind Johnson’s vehicle, the leaves churning under the tires.
Hearing the vehicle pull up behind him, Shawn exited the car and grabbed both ends of his jacket, zipping it up as he shook off the cold breeze. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked to the trunk of his vehicle, meeting Martinez. “What took you so long, man?”
Shaking his head, he said, “Sorry brother. Holden caught me on my way out. Where’s Stoval?” As soon as he asked the question, a county vehicle came around the corner.
“Well speak of the dirty devil.” Shawn grinned as Chris Stovall exited his vehicle. The two men locked hands and pumped fists greeting each other.
“What’s up Martinez?” Chris said with a nod of his head. “You here to assist or observe?”
Giving him the same handshake greeting, Martinez replied, “Just observing today, man. Keeping my distance but making my presence known.”
“Right, right,” said Chris as he nodded. “Alright, Johnson, you ready to get this party started?”
Titling his head and gesturing for Chris to take the lead, Shawn followed him through the yard and up the few stairs to the door of the residence. Martinez leaned on the passenger side of his vehicle and crossed his arms on his chest.
Chris rapped on the screen door a few times and took a step back glancing at Shawn. After waiting a couple moments, Shawn gave him the go ahead to try again. This time, he knocked a little harder. Still no response.
Glancing at his watch, Shawn asked, “You did check his work schedule, didn’t you?”
“Seriously, dude? Of course, I did. He was scheduled to work last night and off today. His car is in the driveway and his ankle monitor says he’s here.” Chris pounded on the door, this time shaking the glass. “Robinson, probation department. Answer the door!”
Just as their patience was wearing thin, they heard the deadbolt click and a 20-some-thing, attractive woman emerged from behind the door squinting her eyes. “Can I help you?”
Shawn perked up and flashed his badge. “Why, yes you can! Tell Robinson to get his ass up. Time for a home visit.”
Irritation washed over her face as she rolled her eyes. Shaking her head, she grumbled, “Wait here.” She shut the door behind her to keep the cold air from leaking in.
Chris and Shawn looked at each other with mutual amusement. Looking back at Martinez, who was still patiently leaning against his vehicle, Shawn gave him an affirmative head nod. He turned back to Chris. “So, how long do we give him before we walk in?”
Before he could respond, the door opened. Steve stood there in a light gray sweatshirt and loose pajama pants, his forearm leaning on the doorframe. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he glanced from Chris to Shawn. He opened the door to let them in he said, “Seriously, man? You couldn’t wait ‘till after lunch?” Gaining his focus, he noticed Martinez. He clenched his teeth making his cheeks convulse.
Martinez was unfazed. He caught Steve’s gaze and glared at him. Chris and Shawn entered the residence as Steve held the door for them. Never moving his eyes from Martinez, he slowly shut the door behind them. Chris began walking through the residence, scanning every inch of the place and picking through things to make sure there were no signs of illegal substances. The young girl was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. “Steve, baby, what’s going on?”
Stern in his response he said, “Go back to bed. This doesn’t concern you.” She quickly disappeared, slamming the bedroom door. He turned to Shawn, waved his hand towards the front door and asked, “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Don’t give me any shit, Robinson.”
Chris finished his search of the kitchen and bathroom before reminding Steve, “Dude, is she decent? You know I have to check in there.”
Steve sat down in his chair and hollered, “Yo! Kitten! Put some pants on and get your ass out here.”
She opened the door. Already dressed, the young girl walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch, folding her legs under herself. Giving Chris and Shawn a look of disapproval, she pulled her long, brown hair around her right shoulder and proceeded to scroll through her phone.
As Chris searched the bedroom, Shawn stood in the living room, keeping an eye on Steve and his girlfriend.
“Hey princess, how ‘bout you put that phone down and go make me something to eat.”
Giving him an unappreciative glare, she slammed the phone down on the coffee table and went into the kitchen.
“You sure know how to charm the ladies, don’t ya, Robinson?” Shawn shook his head and smirked.
Relaxing back into his chair, Steve said, “So you gonna let that asshole tag along with you every time you violate my personal space?”
“I don’t think your PO would appreciate you talking about him like that.”
His chiseled face showed no signs of amusement. “You know who I’m talking about.”
Exiting the bedroom Chris said, “Alright Johnson, we’re all good. Robinson, I just need to check your ankle monitor.”
Steve lifted his foot and pulled his pant-leg up as he glared at Chris. “We done here?”
As Chris checked the monitor to assure it hadn’t been tampered with, he asked, “Who’s the girl?”
Scrunching his eyebrows together he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I couldn’t have visitors as a condition of my parole?”
“No,” he dropped Steve’s foot to the floor and stood up, “a condition of your parole is that you cannot be associating with other known felons. I’m going to need to check her driver’s license.”
Steve stood up to face him. Chris was shorter, but stocky with a wrestler’s physique. “Yo, Kat! Man needs to check your license.”
Chris backed up a couple steps and crossed his arms against his chest patiently waiting. Kat stomped into the living room, grabbed her bag, and pulled her license out of her wallet, forcefully holding it out for Chris to grab hold of.
“Alright, Miss Katrina Simons, I need to check your purse as well.”
“Are you freaking kidding me? This is some bullshit!” She grabbed her bag, dumped its contents onto the table, and trudged back into the kitchen.
Chris looked at Shawn. “Well, she’s a feisty one.” He scanned the table and turned back to Steve saying, “Alright buddy. We’ll see you next time,” before heading towards the exit.
“Looking forward to it,” Steve replied sarcastically. He followed the officers to the front door, the screen door slamming shut behind them. He stood there for a moment waiting for Martinez to be in view. They glared at each other before an evil smile formed across Steve’s lips and he waved to him before disappearing behind the door.
Pushing himself from the side of his vehicle with his foot, he stood erect and nodded at Shawn. “I’ll see you back at the bureau.” Shawn nodded back affirmatively. “Hey Stovall, everything good?”
“Clean as a whistle. For now, anyway. Just gotta run a check on his little girlfriend,” he looked at his notes, “Katrina Simons. Want me to keep you updated, Martinez,” he asked as he opened his car door.
“Shoot me a text as soon as you find out, will ya?”
Chris smiled. “Roger that.”
Leaving Steve’s house, Martinez continued across town to Nicks Liquor and More. He pulled into one of the parking spaces in front of the store and walked in, setting off the automatic doorbell. The lady behind the register silently acknowledged him as she waited for her current customer to count the change needed to pay for his tallboy. His Carhartt’s were ragged and his hair curled around his stocking cap. Pushing the change towards the girl, he grabbed his brown bag and turned to leave, nodding at Martinez as he passed him.
“How you doin’ today,” the lady behind the counter asked Martinez, not trying to hide her irritation as she counted the coins and placed it in the proper compartment in the cash drawer.
Rubbing his chin, he modestly replied, “Better than some. Is the owner around?”
The register clanged as she closed it. “Who should I say is askin’?”
Pulling his jacket to the side to reveal his badge he answered, “Detective Martinez.”
She looked down at his badge and back up at him, the expression on her face unaffected. “Yeah, sure.” She walked to the other side and pushed open the glass door leading to the drive-thru. “Hey Nick!”
“Yeah!” a voice echoed from the back.
“There’s a cop out here looking for you!”
“What! What does he want?”
“How the hell should I know,” she hollered back to him and allowed the door to spring shut. Walking back towards Martinez she took a seat on a stool. “He’ll be right with ya,” she said before scrolling through her phone.
“I appreciate it.”
When she didn’t respond, a tall larger man pushed through the door, this time it swung in the opposite direction. He pulled the hoodie from his un-kept hair and wiped his hands with a rag before shoving it into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Martinez walked around to the beer cooler to meet him, reached out his hand, and introduced himself.
Nick shook his hand and asked, “What can I do for ya, Detective?”
“I was hoping you could help me with a recent purchase from your store.” He looked above Nick’s head to a camera in the corner that appeared to cover the register area. “Do you keep recordings for that?”
Nodding his head, he said, “Sure do.”
“About how long do you keep the files?”
“I keep ‘em running for a while. Why?”
Pulling the receipt out of his pocket he said, “I was hoping you could give this a look and possibly tell me who bought this prepaid card.”
Scrunching his eyebrows together he bluntly asked, “Now why would I wanna do that?”
“Well, Nick, I believe a very bad man used this card to send something equally bad to a woman who is pretty important to me.”
“I see,” he said as he walked past Martinez. He turned around and looked at him like he was stupid. “You wanna look at those files or not?”
Excited, he followed the man. “Yes, sir!”
They walked through to the back of the store and Nick unlocked a door with his keys, leading them into a small office. He sat down in the chair, Martinez standing next to him. “You got that receipt so I can pull up the day and time?” He pulled up the date listed on the receipt and fast-forwarded to the time, going back a few frames to catch the person making the purchase. “Well, call me crazy, but that doesn’t look like a man to me,” he said as he looked at Martinez.
“No, it sure doesn’t.” He looked intently at woman in the video. “Can you play it again? Stop it right there.” Although she wore a baseball cap, she looked a lot like Steve’s girlfriend who answered the door that morning. “But I have a feeling she bought it for him.” He took a picture of the still with his phone.
Nick closed out of the windows and stood from his seat. “Sorry you didn’t get what you were looking for.”
Martinez shook his hand. “I got enough. Thank you for all your help.” As they walked back to the front of the store, Martinez said, “Just one more thing, can you recommend a nice red wine?”
Nick smiled. “You got it.”
Sitting at her desk, Elizabeth finished the final letter in her stack to be sent out. At least Peggy had managed to leave her be for the rest of the day. Just as the clock struck four, China stood in the doorway, coat on and bag dangling from her hand. “You ready to get outta here?”
Looking up with a smile, she said, “No, you go ahead. I just wanna finish up a couple things.”
Voices from the rest of the office employees filing out echoed through the hall. China leaned against the doorframe with a grin of slight amusement. “I think you’ve already impressed Marilyn today. No need to go overboard.”
“Ha, ha, very funny.” She playfully grabbed a lock of hair and secured it behind her ear. “Really, I just wanted to touch base with Sara before I go, see how she’s doing since grand jury.”
“Okay, have it your way.” Spinning on her heel, she turned and winked. “Have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She waved goodbye and got back to the task at hand, dialing the number to the domestic violence shelter. The phone only rung twice before she was connected.
“Safe House Center, this is Loren.”
“Hey Loren, it’s Liz. Would Sara be available to talk? I’ve been thinking about her since grand jury and just wanted to check in.”
“Oh, hey Liz. Actually, everyone is in a group session right now. I gotta tell ya, she had a rough night after testifying. But she seemed a bit better today. Just taking it one day at a time.”
She sighed and shook her head slowly to herself. “I wish there was something more I could do for her.”
“You just keep doing what you do. We all do our part. She’s making progress. You know as well as anyone it takes time to build up the esteem and confidence again. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear you called. And I just want to let you know how happy I am you fought to stay on her case. That couldn’t have been an easy task for you.”
Trying to be modest she replied, “Yeah well, it was important.” She paused for a moment wondering if she should share the news. “Hey, not to give away too many details but I have something else in the works and getting your support in the future would be a real blessing.”
“Really? What do you got cooking?”
“Well, it’s not in ink yet, so keep this between you and I, but I’ve put the bug in Marilyn’s ear about an in-office victim rights attorney; specifically for women like Sara. It would be on a case-by-case basis, of course.”
Excited, she couldn’t respond fast enough. “Wow, of course! I think that is a fantastic idea and you would have my unwavering support!”
Smiling through the phone Elizabeth said, “Thanks, Loren. That means a lot. Please, tell Sara I called and let me know if she needs anything?”
“You got it. We’ll talk to you soon, Liz.”
Hanging up the phone, she began shutting down her computer and printer. Gathering her things, her cell phone vibrated against the top of the desk. It was Angel.
His text read, “Just finishing up here. You up for some company? Have wine!”
She quickly responded, “OMG you read my mind! We are celebrating. Just now leaving. Tell you all about it soon!”
After turning everything off, she finished packing up her things and headed to the parking garage. She couldn’t wait to get home. All she could think about was Angel wrapping his warmth around her. But as she stepped towards her car, feelings of dread washed over her positive thoughts. Oh my God, stop it, Liz! Today is a good day.
Just as she reached her vehicle, the fear became more pronounced. Looking up over the guardrails she saw him. Not even 100 feet away from the door of the county building stood Steve Robinson, leaning against the light post in front of the bar across the street. He was bigger than she remembered. His eyes hadn’t changed. They pierced through her like a knife, sending chills up her spine.
Her breathing became shallow while her heart raced. She watched in horror as he brought his cigarette to his lips, taking a long drag before flicking it into the road. She quickly turned away fumbling in her bag for the keys before they flipped out of her purse and onto the ground.
Crossing his arms on his chest, he watched her with a smug grin of victory before walking to the corner of the street. If it was there before, prison definitely made his cocky strut more prominent. Snatching up her keys, her hands shook as she unlocked the door. Once it was open, she turned back to where he was standing. He was gone and the panic inside her rose to unprecedented levels. Slowly walking towards the guardrail, she leaned over, looking down both sides of the street. Nothing.
She rushed to her car, slammed the door, reached over, pounded the lock down, and started the vehicle. The engine barely had time to warm up and she peeled out of the garage, frantically searching to make sure he wasn’t sitting in a parked vehicle waiting to follow her. Instinctively, she did what she told many women before and took a different route home.
Hands clutched to the wheel and knee slightly shaking her foot against the gas pedal, she took turn after turn, slowly making her way to the edge of town. Finding a quiet neighborhood, she pulled off the road to catch her breath. Putting the car in park, she placed her hand back on the wheel, biting her bottom lip in shock. Nervously, she tried to swallow back the tears. She rested her forehead on the wheel and lost all control.
Between the uncontrollable crying, the anger and the fear, her rib cage felt like it was crushing her lungs. Not only was he out, he was going to make her pay. Now she was sure he sent the flowers. That meant he knows where she lives. Shit! Shit! Shit!
There was a rap on the window, jolting her from the breakdown with a scream. An old man with white hair, wearing a thick flannel shirt, stood there with a concerned look on his face. He motioned her to roll the window down.
Wiping off her face, she cracked it enough so she could hear him.
“Are you okay, young, lady?”
She sniffled as she wiped her nose with her coat sleeve. “I’m okay. I’m sorry -”
“No need to apologize. I didn’t mean to pry; I just came out to get my mail and saw you sitting here. Looked like you needed some help.”
She looked over and saw she was parked right in front of his mailbox. “I’m so sorry sir. I’ll just be on my way.”
Rolling up the window she caught his last words as he backed away from her door, “You be safe now!” Putting the vehicle in drive, she waved at him and drove off.