DAKOTA AND HIS band of volunteers were not getting off to a prompt start. Up till now it had only been a few people to manage but fifteen was a bit daunting. Sister Mary Jacob stepped up to the plate, fetched clipboards out of her car, while Dakota rummaged around for paper in Maggie’s study. Everyone in the group hunted for pens and the nun, a born organizer, begin to assign areas. While they were doing that Cal, Maggie and Sully arrived, Elizabeth with them. Introductions were made and instructions repeated.
Even though they had canvassed much of the area between the restaurant where Sedona was last seen and Maggie’s house, they had not gone to the neighborhood in the other direction, away from the restaurant, so that was the mission of the volunteers for this particular Sunday. They went down the sidewalk in pairs, headed for the neighborhood just past the small park, when two police cruisers rushed past them, lights flashing but no sirens.
“This used to be such a quiet neighborhood,” Maggie said. “Nothing but excitement the last couple of weeks.”
Dakota’s cell phone was ringing in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was Detective Santana. “Where are you?” he asked Dakota.
“Just outside my sister’s house. Less than a block away with a group of volunteers. What’s going on?”
“I think we might have found her but we’ll need your ID. The son of an elderly woman called the police and said a woman named Sedona was holding his mother hostage...”
“Hostage! She wouldn’t do that! Where is she?”
“The police are en route to Felder Avenue, just three blocks from Dr. Sullivan’s house.”
“I see them!” Dakota shouted into the phone. He began to jog down the street where the two police cruisers were parked diagonally in front of a little house and the officers were crouched behind the cars, weapons drawn. “Holy shit, what are you doing?” he yelled.
“Stay back, sir! Get down the street and take cover until this is resolved!”
“Is my sister in there? Sedona Packard? She wouldn’t hold anyone hostage! Sedona!” he yelled, walking right into the police officers’ line of fire. “Sedona! Come out!”
He was suddenly tackled. He went down hard with a very heavy police officer on top of him, a knee in his back. He realized a little late that it was lucky he didn’t get shot. “Don’t move,” the officer said. Dakota felt his hands roughly pulled behind him and handcuffs slapped on his wrists.
“The detective just called, he’s on the phone! Let me see if my sister is in there! Take my phone,” Dakota pleaded. “Talk to Santana. Come on, man, have you lost your mind?”
“The house is not secure!”
The front door squeaked open and an elderly woman with wiry white hair wearing a purple pantsuit and bedroom slippers stood in the doorway. She just stood there, looking at the scene on her front lawn with a confused look on her face.
“What in the world are you people doing?” she asked.
Sedona stepped up behind the old woman, her hands on the woman’s shoulders. Immediately, the police started shouting at her to show her hands and come out of the house slowly.
Sedona had a stricken look on her face, but she did as she was told and the crowd of volunteers was converging rapidly on the two officers and Dakota. Cal ran toward them, waving one of his flyers with her picture on it, trying to rapidly explain that they’d been looking for Sedona for a week.
Ignoring the police, Cal pulled her into his embrace. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I just wanted a little time,” she said. “I’m afraid the bunch of you and Bob will have me committed.”
Maggie ran up to them. “Sedona, no one can have you committed unless you’re a danger to yourself or others. You’re panicked, that’s all. We’ll find the right kind of help for you.”
“Bob will be furious,” she said. “He’ll—”
“Bob is worried sick,” Dakota said from his place on the grass. He’d wrangled himself into a sitting position, hands cuffed behind his back. “Will you get these goddamn things off me?” he shouted.
“Hey, Bud,” the second officer said, holding his cell phone away from his ear. “This is our missing person. Santana is on his way into the station. We’re going to meet him there with Mrs. Packard.”
“And me,” Cal said. “I’m her brother and attorney.”
“And I’m her sister-in-law and doctor,” Maggie said.
“And I’m her brother and the guy who’s going to sue your asses!” Dakota said.
“He’s a little cranky,” Cal said. “Let him go, huh? Otherwise, he’s going to make this worse than it already is.”
“Maybe we should wait awhile,” the first cop said. “See if he can behave. We already know he can’t listen or follow orders.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Cal said.
“What about Alice?” Sedona asked.
“Alice?” three people said in unison.
Sedona turned and looked at the elderly woman in the doorway. She just stood there, waiting. But a couple of tears made paths down her cheeks. “Oh, Alice,” Sedona said, walking back to her and enfolding her in her arms. “Oh, dear Alice, you took such good care of me.”
“I didn’t,” she said, her voice weak and trembling. “I didn’t do anything for you. And you were my friend.”
“Well, we knew it was going to have to end. I have a family.” She looked over her shoulder. “A lot of family. And you have to talk to your son.”
“Hmph,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Is it too late to cut him out of my will?”
Sedona laughed and wiped her own eyes. “He only wants you to be safe,” she said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Alice said. Then she gave a tremulous smile. “My house has never been so clean. Even before I was old.”
“One of my gifts,” Sedona said. “It comes at a dear price, trust me.”
Alice got a shocked look. “Do I owe you something?”
“No, no, of course not. I just meant... Oh, never mind what I meant.” She kissed the old woman’s cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“A lot of people seem to want you,” Alice said.
Sedona looked at the crowd. She didn’t know most of them.
“This is going to take some sorting out,” one of the officers said, approaching Sedona.
Maggie came to her side. “I’ll go with you, Sedona. Your brothers will come. We’ll call Bob right away—he’s very worried. Everything is going to be okay now.”
* * *
Sedona had only been three short blocks from Maggie’s house, but since it was in the opposite direction of the restaurant the search hadn’t covered that area and Alice and Sedona had never noticed the flyers posted everywhere. It was unclear if Sedona had lost her purse or left it at the restaurant or if it had been stolen but her credit cards had been used until they were shut off by companies. It was possible Sedona left it and someone took advantage.
Sedona told her story, an emotional ordeal for sure. To her, it was all very logical. She signed herself out of the hospital and went to Maggie’s house, where she used her time alone to prepare herself for how she’d work things out with her family. But her medication wore off and panic set in. As she had done for many years, she forced herself to leave the house, get dinner, make a reservation, behave in a socially acceptable manner. It was very likely the panic that caused her to leave her purse behind. By the time she got to the park without her purse, her phone, her money, she was exhausted and frightened. That’s where Alice found her and took her in.
“I’m kind of embarrassed I didn’t think of that scenario myself,” Maggie said. Sedona was released to the custody of her brothers and sister-in-law. Maggie called Dr. Tayama to report that Sedona was safe and asked her to prescribe the best mild sedative for her condition.
Bob was on his way. Dakota and Sidney were told they could head back to Timberlake, but they decided to stay until they could see Sedona and Bob reunited. Sedona was tense despite a sedative, but Bob was so relieved to see her he just put his arms around her and said, “Let’s get this fixed, honey.”
Dakota and Sidney finally did escape. They were in two cars. Dakota leaned into her window. “Let’s go somewhere for the night,” he said. “There’s a lodge on our way—the Pinewood Lodge. Give me just a second to call them and make sure they have a room, then will you follow me there?”
“Sounds perfect,” she said.
A moment later, he put his phone back in his pocket. He smiled. “Twenty-four-hour room service,” he said.
In forty minutes they were pulling into a little hideaway in the mountains. Ten minutes later they were entering a room with a view of the Rockies and a lush valley below them. They had a small deck, a king-size bed, a spa tub and each other.
“It’s been a long, stressful week for you,” Sid said. “Good outcome, but a long one.”
“Thank God she’s okay and safe.” He laughed. “Thank God I didn’t go to jail!”
“Yeah, you’re going to want to avoid making a habit of that.”
“I know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “How fast can you be naked?”
She laughed in spite of herself. “You’re impossibly romantic, you know that?”
He grabbed her around the waist. “I must knock you off your feet, huh?”
She ran her fingers through his short beard. “As a matter of fact...”
* * *
They enjoyed a delicious dinner of trout, rice, grilled asparagus with a cream sauce and beet salad. “It’s like eating a rainbow,” Sid said.
“We have to remember this place,” Dakota said.
After dinner they showered and got into bed. Dakota pulled her into his arms and began to slowly and thoroughly worship her body. He kissed every inch of her, from her eyelids to her toes, pausing here and there to deliver some special attention with his tongue and fingers. When he found her lips at last, she was breathless.
“You’re right about the beard,” she whispered. “There are times it really is magnificent.”
“Works for me, too,” he whispered back. “Have I mentioned how much I love your body? Your body is so good to my body.”
“Quit playing around and come inside,” she said.
“Ah, the lady is ready...”
“I’ve been ready,” she said. “I love the way you love me. I didn’t know it could be like this.”
“Say no more, sweetheart,” he said, covering her with his body and bringing it home, taking extreme pleasure in the sighs of pleasure she made. He rocked with her, and when her legs circled his waist, he rode her. He kissed her deeply as she gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into his shoulders. He loved the feel of that passion in her fingertips and then, with a small cry, she came, throbbing around him. It filled him with the urgency he loved and he joined her, letting go, pulsing until there was nothing left in him.
“Oh God,” she muttered. “I’m completely hooked on you. You do that so well.”
“I thought it was you,” he said. “Shit! That condom’s still sitting on the bedside table—”
She giggled. “We’re okay. I started the pill. I was saving it as a surprise.”
“Well, that explains why it was just slightly better this time,” he said, burrowing deeper. “We have a nice little routine.”
“There’s nothing routine about it,” she said, holding him closer.
He rolled onto his side, bringing her with him. “When I came to Colorado, I had no idea what I’d find.” He gently tucked her hair behind her ear. “I never imagined I would find you. I wasn’t looking for this, but God...I think finding you is the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“And here I thought you just wanted to get laid,” she said, humor in her voice.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m usually open to getting laid. But with you I have so much more. I think you’re my best friend.”
Her eyes widened. She looked shocked.
“Why are you surprised? I love all the time we spend together.” A low rumble of laughter tumbled out of him. “I admit, I like this part a lot. But on top of everything else, you’re a true friend. Sid, I know you want us to be cool, but you’re going to have to adjust to a reality. I’m in love with you.”
“Cody...” she said in a breath.
“Shh, you don’t have to say anything. I know you’re trying to find yourself, that you were a little lost after your divorce. That’s okay. I’ve been there. And I’ll be right here when you’re ready. I’m hoping for a good outcome.”
“Oh, Cody, I think you’re magic.”
“I’m glad you think so. I’m planning to pull something out of my sleeve that will last forever. I think we both deserve it. Now kiss me and I’ll take care of you again.”
“You are a magician...”
Deep in the night, Dakota woke to the sensation of small, soft, urgent hands boldly caressing him. Soft, sleepy laughter rumbled out of him. “Someone woke up frisky,” he said. “And wanted me to wake up, too.”
“You were already awake,” she said, turning toward him. “At least some of you!”
“Do you need me to take care of you? Again?”
“Could you just put me back to sleep,” she said. “If it’s not too much trouble.” Then she wiggled closer and put her leg over his. He responded by turning her onto her back and taking his place between her thighs. “I thought you might do this in your sleep.”
“I can,” he said. “With you, it’s the most natural thing in the world.”
He made love to her in her favorite way. It was so amazing to him—they hadn’t been lovers for very long and yet they had such a satisfying routine. He knew exactly how to touch her, rub her, stroke her, kiss her and bring her to a shattering climax while he held her in his arms. When she was complete and her eyes gently closed, he kissed her eyelids. “Better, honey?”
“Better,” she said. Then she rolled onto her side and he curled around her.
“You’re so good for me, Sid,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “I hope I’m good for you.”
“Mmm,” she said, nestling closer.
“You’re so good for me,” he whispered. “I know you’re too good for me. I just might become a better man if I put an effort into deserving you.”
She didn’t move.
“Sid?” he asked softly. She didn’t move. He softly kissed her neck. “Good night. I love you.”
* * *
Tom Canaday had a good-size backyard, large enough for a vegetable garden, patio and a fire pit surrounded by a few chairs. His oldest son, Jackson, was twenty-one and making great progress in college, studying architecture. Jackson was going to the University of Colorado in the fall to complete his degree, and for this, he would have to live away from home. Tom was grieving; Jackson was ecstatic.
Tom was dealing with a lot more than Jackson going off to finish college, so when his son walked into the kitchen at about nine on a Saturday night, it all came to mind. “Hey, you’re home!” Tom said. “No date tonight?”
“Shelly is having girls’ night,” he said. “I just dropped her at Brooke’s, where several girls have gathered to do secret things.”
“When you’re a little older, maybe she’ll tell you what they do,” Tom suggested with a grin.
“I don’t think I want to know,” Jackson said. “I only care about secret things she feels like doing with me.”
“Feel like a beer with your old man? Out by the fire?”
“You’re not going to lecture me about sex again, are you?”
“I’ll try not to,” he said, grabbing a beer for his son. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. About Lola.”
“Everything is all right with Lola, isn’t it?” Jackson asked.
“Yeah, Lola is great. Isn’t she great?” Tom asked as they walked outside. He stooped to light the fire. Pinecones, which were plentiful, made great starters.
Jackson laughed at him. “Yeah, she is. What’s up?”
“Well, Jackson, we’ve been talking about getting married. But between us we seem to have a lot of kids...”
“Mostly grown,” Jackson said. “We’re not going to stop you from getting married.”
“We’d like to live in the same house.”
“Dad, I’m not going to be here much longer. Nikki’s looking to move to a dorm with a couple of girls as soon as they can afford it. We can stack in here when we’re all home. Can’t we? Cole and Trace cool with that?”
“Lola’s talking to them.”
“This is easy. Double up Nikki and Brenda—it won’t be for that long. Nikki’s mostly gone all the time, anyway. I’ll share a room with Zach, as soon as I can find a footlocker with a combination lock so he doesn’t just help himself to everything... Cole and Trace should be able to share a room—isn’t Trace heading out into the world pretty soon, anyway? And Cole’s at the community college. Isn’t he looking at universities for a degree? Most of us just need a place to flop sometimes...”
“It’s nice to know you don’t have any issues with me and Lola living together. But there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Okay.”
“About your mom,” he said. Then he ran a hand over the back of his sweaty neck and muttered, “Damn.” Tom took a breath. “Listen, this could go down hard. Your mom didn’t have what we’d call a conventional lifestyle.”
Jackson just lifted his eyebrows, beer in hand, waiting.
“It was a long time after we were divorced, of course. I don’t know why I said of course. I honestly don’t know how long. She has a job but she also has a second job. She calls herself an escort. She entertains men.”
“Oh?” Jackson said.
“She’s a good person,” Tom said. “I found out a couple of years ago because she got in a little trouble. She might call herself an escort but the police called her something else. Cal was her lawyer—that’s what his experience is, criminal defense. I don’t think of your mom as a bad person and I don’t want you to, either. But I also don’t want you to find out like I did and—”
“Dad, I know.”
“Know what?” Tom said.
“I know what she does. I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s safe and I can’t let myself think about it, but I already know and she’s always going to be my mother.”
“How do you know?” Tom asked.
“She told us, me and Nikki. She was afraid you were going to tell us and she said your version would make her sound dirty, like some cheap hooker. And she’s not.”
“Apparently she’s not in any way cheap,” Tom muttered.
“They could make a movie out of her,” Jackson said. “She’s like the happy housewife with this sideline. She said she was dating a few men, just a few, and they weren’t local. Businessmen, she said. Then, when she kept explaining, she described it as ‘seeing’ a few men. Nikki was a little nuts at first.”
“I never noticed anything,” Tom said.
“I know. Mom is single and beautiful and she’s really like the nicest person I know. One of these days she’s going to settle on one rich old bastard with a big bank account and a bad cough because if there’s one thing my mother likes it’s to live like she’s got money. And that’s what she’s doing. If she wasn’t getting paid for it, she’d be just your regular independent woman, doing as she pleases.”
Tom stared at Jackson in amazement. “So you’re okay with it?”
“Oh, hell, no, I hate it,” Jackson said. “But Nikki was ready to go nuts so I had to think fast before the whole town knew. So I asked a lot of questions to calm Nikki down—I asked her if she was safe, if she was hanging out with bad people, if she was out on the street, if there was any chance of her going to jail or getting hurt. That kind of stuff. Mom tried saying she’s given up that activity but I called bullshit on that. I just wanted to know what kind of people she’s hanging out with. I think she’s got clients she calls friends and she’s known them all a long time.” Jackson shook his head. “She’s grown up, not hurting anyone and she’s gonna live like she wants. But Nikki and Mom aren’t close now. Nikki can’t help it—it makes her angry and embarrassed. But I convinced her she doesn’t have to broadcast it, especially because of the younger kids. Face it—nothing we can do about it.”
“Is she okay? Nikki?” Tom asked.
“She’s okay,” Jackson said. “We’re not traumatized. It’s pretty obvious why she left us, isn’t it? This kind of life wasn’t going to be enough. And you know what? That makes me feel really sorry for her.”
“Are you sure you’re only twenty-one?” Tom said.
Jackson didn’t answer. “That’s why I’m taking things slow with Shelly,” he said. “I love her like mad, but I want both of us sure, going forward, what kind of life we can commit to. I don’t want to end up alone with four little kids.”
“Jackson, regardless of your mom changing her mind and going her own way, you four kids are the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t regret one thing. I wouldn’t give one of you up.” He took a slug of his beer. “Except maybe Zach,” he said. “He’s kind of a pain in the ass.”
Jackson laughed. “Yeah, you could’ve done better on that one.”
* * *
Dakota and Sid drove to Colorado Springs together on the Saturday nights they worked at the soup kitchen and it had quickly become one of his favorite parts of the week. He was indebted to the group of volunteers who had come to Denver to help him look for Sedona and he was a great admirer of Sister Mary Jacob.
But the ride alone with Sid was a pleasure. That was where they did much of their talking, learning about each other. He told her all about Hasnaa, how they met, how fast they fell in love, how they ignored the differences in their cultures, how she died. “How ironic that a Muslim woman whose life’s work was about peace should die at the hands of terrorists,” he said. “I was a long time getting beyond that.”
“Are you beyond it?” she asked.
“It was a process. I did a little acting out.”
“Ah,” she said. “Acting out?”
“That’s how I got in some trouble in the Army. I was pretty angry. But I had some time to think about things, then I went to Australia, where I had even more time to think, and then I came here. By the time I got here I realized Hasnaa had changed me in a very short time. I’d always been determined to have no real ties, and after Hasnaa, I wanted real ties. I came to my family. For the first time. I met you. I have a niece and, I think, a nephew. Domestic matters like family struggles used to bore me, used to seem so pointless to me. Now I look at my brother and sister and admire them. Sedona used to irritate me. Now that I know how fallible and vulnerable she is, I’d like to see her get whatever help she needs.” He paused. “I used to want to be alone. Now I want to be connected.”
“All that came out of tragedy?” Sid asked.
“Only sort of. Remember, for as much as Hasnaa meant to me and as hard as it was to lose her, we were together barely a few months. For just a little while I had a view of what life could be like. And it can be so good.”
Sid laughed uncomfortably. “I’m not here to fulfill your fantasies.”
“But you do, just the same. I’ve been wanting to ask you about your husband.”
“Ex,” she clarified. “What about him?”
“Tell me about him. Whatever you think is important. Like, how’d you end up with him?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” she said. “I suspect he handpicked me as someone who would work hard for him. On my part? Probably lack of experience. I never dated much. I was dorky and clumsy and introverted, very comfortable with nerds and computers. He was handsome and funny and all the girls wanted him. I didn’t even bother taking him seriously when he hit on me. He was a student—a medical student—and I had a good job at UCLA. But I didn’t have much social confidence. I was awkward.”
“You’re sure not awkward anymore,” he said, squeezing her hand.
“A lot has changed since nine or ten years ago. But when I was a kid that car accident drove me inside and I turned to books and science. I didn’t have a lot of self-confidence.”
“You’re certainly at full function now,” he said.
“That scar does nothing for my bathing suit look.”
He chuckled. “Remember, I’ve seen you naked. Believe me, that scar does not detract. You’re beautiful.”
“You have to say that,” she said.
“No, I don’t have to say anything,” he said. “I have a few scars of my own, and don’t pretend you haven’t noticed. The Army hands ’em out.”
“Scars on a handsome guy don’t—”
“Tell me about the accident,” he said.
That took her mind temporarily off scars and feeling awkward. “It was entirely my fault and I’m lucky to be alive at all. I was on my bike, shot out into the street from between two parked cars without looking and bam! Got hit by a nice lady who was driving the carpool. If I hadn’t been wearing that ugly God-awful helmet...”
“Aw, man. That must be a parent’s worst nightmare.”
“It changed my life. I don’t know what I’d be like if that hadn’t happened, you know? It made me self-conscious and kind of shy. So I was not exactly savvy when this good-looking guy came around. I dated him, married him in less than a year and worked while he went through med school and surgical residency. He was tied up so much—if he had time off, he was studying, so I worked a lot of overtime. It wasn’t long before we didn’t have much of a relationship. Then he left me.”
“I bet there was a lot more to it than that,” Dakota said. “You must have been so lonely.”
“I enjoyed my work. It might’ve been boring to most people but to me... Well, it was very important. I wasn’t just some techie. I was writing code.”
“Programming?” he asked.
“Sometimes. Analyzing. My work was with software.”
“Do you miss it?” he asked, giving her hand a squeeze.
“Sometimes,” she said. “But it was consuming and isolating and then when David... I suddenly realized I was much too alone. And I collapsed from within.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if my work ruined my marriage or my marriage ruined my work. I had such a terrible identity crisis. I’m never going to let myself get in that place again. From a shy and awkward girl to an abandoned wife with no one, with nothing. I had to start over.”
“You run that bar like a drill sergeant. And you’re animated. Outgoing. You have lots of family and friends now.”
“That was a really smart move for me, staying with my brother, helping with the bar and the boys. The bar is a social place—if I’m happy, the customers are happy, they look forward to coming in, they leave tips, they bring friends. And I’m getting that empty bubble inside filled with good people. My life has changed so many times—with the accident, with a marriage I couldn’t have been prepared for, to coming here. Thanks to Rob needing my help and pushing me, I became a much more confident person. But I’m not confident about making another marriage, Dakota. You’re going to have to understand.” She bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry if I misled you into thinking I was some techie. It was more than that.”
“I have no trouble believing you’re smart, Sid. I knew that from the beginning. And I understand why you’re a commitmentphobe right now, after what you went through,” he said. “But I bet I’m not anything like him.”
She laughed. “There’s no question about it.”
“I do have secret ambitions, however,” he said.
“Oh? Do tell?”
“I’m having a good experience here, too. I don’t hate the garbage truck. I’ve had worse duty, believe me, and I love working with Lawrence. But I’m weighing some other options. Maybe the fire department. And I’m still interested in that teaching certificate.” He laughed. “Two important fields guaranteed to keep me from getting rich. Lucky for me, getting rich was never one of my major goals.” He pulled into the parking space at the soup kitchen. “We have lots of time, Sid. Would you like coffee and cake tonight when we’re done here?”
“I think so, yes,” she said. “You never asked me about my husband before.”
“We did a lot of our best talking while naked,” he reminded her. “I didn’t want to know anything about him then.”
“Wise,” she agreed.
* * *
Summer was full on the land as the Fourth of July weekend arrived. Dakota worked hard by day and had perfect evenings. He had dinner at the bar at least a couple of times a week, dinner with Cal, Maggie and Sully at least once a week, dropped in on Sierra a couple of times a week if he didn’t have dinner with her, and most nights Sid drove out to the cabin for the night. More and more of her personal items took up residence in his cabin: her shower gel, toothbrush, hairbrush, lotion, a few extra clothing items. He even drove back to Denver to briefly visit with Sedona in the hospital. She had wisely chosen to go back to the hospital where she had originally been diagnosed and was making progress.
His family was settled and he had a fantastic woman in his life. Things had not been this stable and hopeful in his memory. He’d even been kicking around the idea of a brief visit to Iowa to check on the folks, not so much because he thought they wanted him to visit, but it seemed like a good time to try to make peace with his childhood.
Then a very strange thing happened to remind him life was never uncomplicated. While he was in the bar having dinner, his car parked across the street right in front of the beauty shop, someone emptied a pile of hair clippings in the front seat. At first he couldn’t make out what it was but soon recognized it to be many colors of finely cut hair. By the time he discovered it, the salon was closed, lights off.
“Crazy,” he muttered. He suspected Alyssa, but he hadn’t seen her in weeks. Well, he saw her at a distance. He had no reason to think she was malicious, but who else had hair clippings to toss in a car?
He walked down the block and across the street to the police department. He found Officer Paul Castor holding down the fort. “How you doing, Paul?” he asked.
“Not bad,” he said.
“Let me ask you something—you have an issue with vandalism on the main street here?” Dakota said.
“Nah. It’s well lit, lots of business owners around, stores open. Why? You have a problem?”
He shook his head and laughed. “Someone dumped a pile of hair clippings on the driver’s seat of my car.”
Castor lifted his eyebrows.
“I know—pretty strange, isn’t it?”
“You have a fight with a barber?”
Dakota shook his head. “I guess you never heard that one before, huh?”
“Any damage?”
“No, just a slight mess. I’m going to have to take the car somewhere to get it vacuumed out.”
“You’re in luck. I have a rechargeable minivac I can loan you.”
“That would be great!”
Dakota took the minivac to his car, vacuumed the hair, then drove down to the police department to return it.
He didn’t say anything to Sid, though he weighed that decision heavily. It was that old nagging insecurity. He didn’t want to seem like he had a lot of trouble following him to a woman who was already trying to keep life simple. But he did go to the beauty shop immediately after work the next day.
“Alyssa?” Maria said. “She’s not here but we can fit you in for a trim.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to her.”
Maria’s smile was instant and wide. “She’ll be so disappointed to have missed you! She’s on a little trip with a couple of girlfriends. She’ll be back on Monday morning.”
“But she was here last night?”
“She’s been gone since Tuesday night—a long weekend in Vegas. Girls’ trip.” She clicked her teeth, but smiled. “Nothing but trouble.”
“Then never mind—it’s nothing. I, ah, parked in front of the shop last night while I went to the bar across the street and someone got in there and went through my stuff. Glove box and console. Nothing was stolen. I just thought I’d ask her if she noticed anything. Anyone.”
“Well, I was here and I didn’t see a thing,” Maria said. “It was light until after closing. That’s a nervy thing to do in broad daylight.”
“Kids, probably,” he said.
“Kids around here aren’t perfect, but they’re not dumb. If they go through a car, they usually find something to take. Did you have CDs or anything in there?”
He just smiled. “That’s the point—there wasn’t anything to take. Unless they were interested in my AAA packet and an owner’s manual. No worries. But thanks. I appreciate it.”
The whole family spent the Fourth of July at the Crossing with Sully and a full park of campers. Elizabeth and Sam were content in their swings in the shade by the lake, Cal and Dakota grilled the food, Connie threw the ball for Molly and Sully’s dog, Beau. The only person missing for dinner was Sid. She was with her brother and nephews because the bar was open. She worked until six and then left the bar in the hands of one of the other managers to go home for a backyard picnic with Rob and the boys. At nine she brought the boys to the Crossing to watch the fireworks at the lake. The dogs were a hit with Sid’s nephews and Dakota thought a couple of dogs in the family might help him reel in the boys.
Later that week, Dakota walked Sid out to her car first thing in the morning. She’d spent the night even though he had an early shift on the garbage truck. When she opened her car door they both jumped back in shock. The entire front seat—driver’s seat and passenger seat—was heaped with garbage. Smelly garbage. Not recyclable paper or plastic but degrading, rotting, wet food.
“Oh my God!” Sid exclaimed. “Who would do such a thing?”
“I never heard a car,” he said. “I never heard a sound. I’m pretty sensitive to out of place sounds after a few war zones. Little things, like a click, can be a matter of life and death. Whoever did this didn’t drive up to the car. I’m calling Stan. I’ll call work and explain that I can’t start until later. You can take my car and I’ll see that yours is cleaned up.”
“How will you manage that?”
“I have lots of resources. Cal, Sierra, Sully. I can do it.”