It was weird—she was being stalked by a stranger who troubled her with late night phone calls, and yet, here she was, sitting in her kitchen entertaining the policeman investigating the crime as if he were her date.
Star, Brad’s police dog, was curled up in a corner gnawing on a soup bone she bought and cooked for him, and she was blithely flirting with his master.
Bizarre.
To make matters even more complicated, Brad wasn’t even her type. She didn’t go for macho men—but now she discovered he had a university arts degree and even read Orwell.
He was certainly an enigma so she decided to probe further to discover if he had other hidden parts to his character.
“You have a B.A? —Well then, how did you end up in police work?”
“A friend of mine recruited me. He went to work as a Human Resources officer for the Metro Police and began telling me all about the force. I just got interested—it beat working as a part-time supply teacher in the Jane–Finch Corridor.”
The mere mention of the rough part of town made Hailey wince. “That’s a tough area to teach in.”
“Yeah. At least the cops trained me in martial arts and firearms before sending me out to face the bandits—those teachers have to deal with many of the same criminals. School’s not a sanctuary, you know.”
“I’m beginning to discover that,” she sighed.
“So, you suspect that your stalker’s a student?”
“Seems that way—at least, that’s what Nan’s got me thinking—and Big Sister’s always right.”
“I’m staying away from any more literary allusions,” he chuckled, “—Oh damn, where does the time go?” He pointed to the clock.
“Almost three thirty—I guess your shift is starting soon.”
He stood up. “It is. I guess I’ll have to scope out the yard when I come back to install your security light.”
“I’ll have coffee on.”
“I’d like that.” He stared at her, at a loss for what to say.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you whenever.”
“Sorry, I should know my schedule by now. I’ll check it and be in touch. By the way, I should bring Star along—he might pick up another clue.”
“Sounds good.” She saw them both out and stood at the door and waved as they drove away.
She liked him. It was weird though—he was totally not her type, but she was drawn to him.
The white SUV with red, white and blue police lettering was off-putting, not to mention the uniform and the close cropped haircut.
That wasn’t all—the almost military way he spoke and small details like his boots—she didn’t know what jack boots looked like, but she knew Orwell would not be impressed.
She felt restless and at loose ends, so she made another coffee and sat in the front room, staring at the red Maples in the ravine outside.
A cop with a degree in literature, she mused again—Who knew?
She began to think that there was a lot about Brad Forester that she didn’t know, and would like to find out. She’d just have to find a way of disguising her interest in Brad and keeping it secret from Nan—at least, until she figured out how she felt.
She began to blush again as she realized that she hadn’t thought about Sean for days. One thing about her life that was predictable, was that it was like a Chinese puzzle—it got more twisted, the more she tried to figure it out.
She felt her life was like some simulated computer game where she had to solve the problem of fitting together many pieces and now that Sean and Brad were included in the mix, she had no illusions about getting any quick answers to satisfy her curiosity.
To add to her unsettled feelings was the question of what Mother would say in her will tomorrow afternoon.
Hopefully, some issues would be resolved, but the niggling fear in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise.
As Trish would often say about her family, it was the act we’ve known for all these years, and there was nothing she could do, but wait.
Parts 1 -18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
To be continued...