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Lena poised her fingers over the keyboard and looked at the middle screen on the desk. "Where is the accident located?"
"Uh, the corner of Stanford and Tenth, by Taco Bell."
She typed the nature of the call as the 911 caller continued talking. Pushing the button on her headset, she said, "When did the accident happen?"
"Just now." The person panted over the phone. "The car shot right into the intersection and T-boned the other vehicle."
"Were you involved in the accident?" She let go of the button on her headset and dispatched emergency crews.
"No, it happened in front of me. I pulled over and called 911. The person who got hit—I think it's a woman, got hit on the driver's door."
"How many cars are involved?" she asked.
"Two. A blue car and a white older truck."
"Emergency personnel are en route." She scooted her chair in front of the left screen. "They'll be there in less than two minutes. Stay out of the road and on the phone with me until they arrive, please."
"Okay." The male caller talked to someone in the background.
Sensing someone behind her, Lena looked over her shoulder. "Almost done."
"Big call?" said Yvonne, setting her bag down by the drawers of the desk.
"Vehicle accident. Unit 94 is en-route." She pushed the button at her hip. "You should hear sirens approaching the area now."
"Yeah, yeah, they're coming," said the man.
"Stay on the line with me until the officer stops." She turned back around to Yvonne. "How was the birthday celebration last night?"
"Awesome." Yvonne kicked the bottom of the chair. "You should've stayed."
"I was beat. Once I can stop working different shifts, I can plan on having more of a life." She reconnected with the caller when the man came over and said the policeman had stopped. "You can go ahead and disconnect this call. Please stay at the accident scene in case the officer would like to ask you questions."
"Okay. Thank you."
Lena disconnected the call, removed her headset, and picked up her two bottles of water. "The desk is all yours which seems weird. We've been working the same shift for months now. I missed you today."
"Thank God this is my only shift change this week. It feels unnatural not to be working with you, Gabi, and Shannon. We'll catch up after our weekend." Yvonne exchanged places with her. "Why are you looking beautiful today?"
"Hot date," she mumbled. "Or, at least a date. I'm not sure what it is yet."
"Girl, I want to hear all about this mysterious guy soon." Yvonne clipped the wire onto the waist of her jeans. "How's Station B today?"
The fire chief for the west side fire station was Yvonne's latest crush. Lena squatted, opened the bottom drawer of the desk, and removed her purse. "They've only gone out on one call. Gabi called the code."
"Hm, well, that's no help." The light flashed on the desk. "That's for me. Have a good night with the hot date."
Last night, she'd been excited and nervous about seeing Thad again. This morning, not so much. Going by his looks, his attitude, and his mannerisms, she was the exact opposite of him. She walked through the Employees Only door and cut through the police department side of the building.
Officer Conrad strolled out of his office, smiled, and said, "Evening, Lena."
"Hi, Reggie." She swung her purse over her shoulder. "Looks like you had a quiet shift."
"I'll take more of those if you're handing them out." He walked past her and laughed.
"I'll do my best, but I'm off until Wednesday." She walked into the lobby, stopped, and turned around tracing her steps.
Outside Detective Mooney's office, she peeked through the glass door and knocked. At the detective's wave to come in, she opened the door. "Do you have a moment?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Detective Mooney leaned back in his chair.
She dug her cell phone out of her purse and tapped the screen. "Is it possible to trace a text message?"
He reached out for her phone and looked at the angry message she'd received last night. She hadn't lied when she told Thad it was probably the wrong number, but he'd seemed concerned, and when she'd fallen into bed, dead tired, she couldn't sleep wondering who would text her.
"It's probably a wrong number, but I thought I'd check." She set her purse on the edge of the desk.
"Do you have anyone who is mad at you?" asked Detective Mooney.
She snorted. "I don't have time for relationships to get heated. I work in dispatch. I spend more time here than at home."
"I hear you," he mumbled and sighed. "The number on the text comes from a free text app you can download anywhere. If I followed the pings, it'd only show the server, which could be redirected from anywhere in the world. Got to love technology. Stalkers, teenage girls, and telemarketers have all found a way around caller I.D. A new generation is learning about prank calls, except their texts are done anonymously online."
"Thanks. I thought it was nothing, but decided it was worth asking about." She took her phone back from him.
Detective Mooney stood. "No other threats? Have you run into someone around town, maybe at the store or showing up on your way to work that you've noticed more than once or stood out to you?"
She shook her head. "Not at all."
"Stay alert." He picked up a folder on his desk. "Like you said, it's probably a message meant for someone else. It could even be best girlfriends talking smack."
She backed up to the door. "Smack? Is that code for 390?"
Detective Mooney chuckled. "A few drinks and people start doing strange things and harassing friends is at the top of the list. Not everyone lives at work like we do. Speaking of, I have a meeting I don't want to go to."
"Yep, and I'm heading out." She waved over her shoulder. "See you later."
Feeling more confident that the message was a one-time mistake, she hurried out to her car. The chilled air tickled her arms, and she looked up at the sky. Fall had officially shown up in the Pacific Northwest.
Inside her car, she started the engine and checked the time. She still had a half hour until she was due at Thad's house. Knowing every street in St. John's as required for her job, she'd arrive fifteen minutes early if she headed straight to his house.
Her stomach gnawed. She pulled out of the parking lot, traveled three blocks east, and pulled into the Safeway parking lot. Fifteen minutes later, she carried the bag of purchases out to her car and headed toward Thad's house.
At the traffic light, she refreshed her lipstick. At the four-way stop, she dug her perfume out of her purse, slipped her hand under her sweater, and sprayed her stomach. On the street where Thad lived, she glanced in the mirror and pressed her left hand to her forehead, telling herself to calm down. It'd been a good year since she'd gone out on a date.
She had comfortably settled into believing if a man walked into her life, and there was an attraction on her part, she wouldn't push him away. Otherwise, she pulled herself off the market as actively seeking a sexual relationship. At thirty-four years old, she had no interest in a couple of months' fling or rearranging her life, her job, her living situation for anyone when there was no future with the person.
Her GPS warned her to turn. She slowed and looked at the address on the mailbox and pulled into a short driveway behind a parked motorcycle. Thad lived in one of the newer housing developments, while she lived in a house built in the sixties.
She got out of the car, looked up and down the street, and was glad for the motorcycle parked outside because all the places looked the same. Walking around the car, she retrieved her bag of purchases from the store and strolled up to the front door. She'd have dinner, dessert, conversation, and then call it a night.
If things worked out or they found out they had nothing in common, it was one evening that she spent with someone else. That was never a bad thing. It's what normal people did all the time.
She pushed the doorbell, and the door swung open only seconds later. Thad stood in front of her looking deliciously rugged. "Hey."
God, he looked good. Even better than last night. In the light on his front step, his piercing blue eyes were shocking. She hadn't noticed them last night, or maybe she never looked close enough because it had been dusk when they'd met. She swept her gaze over his flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled above his elbows. He kept the first three buttons undone and she suspected even if he tried to button them, it would be difficult over his broad chest.
"You came." Thad stepped back. "Come in. I just made a fire in the backyard."
She'd forgotten that he talked about eating outside. Chinese food. Cooler temperature. The man leaned toward unconventional which was highly attractive to her.
He walked beside her through the living room. She held up the bag in her hand. "Can I put this in your freezer?"
"Yeah." He pointed to his right at the kitchen that was open to the dining room. "If there's anything in your way, you can set it out. I have a stand-up freezer in the garage I can use to move things around and make space."
She quickly scanned what he kept frozen. Ice cream. Cool-whip. Ice. Mugs. Hamburger.
There was plenty of room. She put the carton of ice cream she bought on the shelf and set the rest of the items in the bag on the counter. When she turned around, he was gone, and the sliding door was open.
"Thad?" she said.
"Out here."
She walked outside onto a wooden deck. Rubbing her arms against the chill, she said, "I'll go get my coat from the car."
"Don't bother." He straightened from the fire pit about twelve feet from the deck and encircled with large river rocks. He motioned to the side of him. "There's a blanket on the swing if the fire doesn't keep you warm."
She raised her brows. Intent on checking him out, she hadn't noticed a free-standing bench swing in the yard. She had to admit that was cozy and inviting.
"That'll be perfect." She walked off the deck and over to the bench, holding the swing while she sat. "Once spring comes it'll be too warm to sit by a fire."
"I've only had the swing for a couple of months." He sat down beside her, and she found that there was enough space between them for another person to sit. "I'm thinking about building a gazebo and putting the swing inside it. That way I can use it all fall and winter and stay dry. I wasn't sure I'd use it much by myself, but I found I come out here a lot to enjoy a fire."
"Building?" She ran her hand over the wooden armrest. "Did you build the swing?"
He nodded.
Impressed at having a talent that produced beautiful things, she said, "Are you a carpenter or in construction?"
He leaned back, using his boots to keep the swing rocking. "No, I work over at Port Loaders. I'm one of the Union workers who preps and loads the cars on the ships. The swing was just something I worked on in my spare time. My dad's the one who is good with wood. He's taught me enough I have fun trying to see if I can make things myself."
She lifted the toes of her shoes off the ground and let him control the swinging. "What else have you made?"
"The swing is the only thing I've made for myself. Usually, I give the shit away. I pawn all the pieces I learn on off on friends." He grinned. "Wayne's got a picnic table I made a couple of years ago. I gave Glen and Ingrid a bookcase when they got married. You know those outdoor chairs where you lean back?"
"Adirondack chairs?" she said.
"Yeah, those." He looked at her when he talked, and she liked that. "Made Chuck two of them. Though you have to be careful sitting in one of them because the legs are uneven."
He wasn't rattling off his achievements, simply answering the question she'd asked. Going by the way he gave his home-made wood products away said a lot about a man. "Are those all your friends?"
"My brothers." His amusement mellowed, and he nodded. "MC brothers. They're all a part of Notus Motorcycle Club, but I've known the guys since we were six. We grew up together in the same neighborhood."
"And, you stayed friends from childhood to adulthood." She smiled. "That's incredible. You don't hear of people being friends for a lifetime anymore. I always wondered what it would be like to have even one person who lasted past going to school together to becoming like sisters as we both went in different directions."
"You don't have a friend who—" He stopped the swing at the chime of the doorbell. "Food's here."
"I can help." She stood.
"Nah. Sit down and stay warm by the fire. I'll bring it all out." He walked into the house.
During their conversation, she hadn't been aware of how dark it'd gotten outside because of the glow of the fire. She smiled inside and relaxed. Their initial conversation was easy and not awkward at all. Thad was more than a biker, who gave out advice on how to stay safe. He built beautiful things with his hands and kept childhood friends.
All day she'd worried about his level of sincerity toward their date. Maybe he was the one who should be worried about her. She had nothing stable in her life besides her job and nobody to validate her worth.