Chapter

Dove loved teaching with a passion reserved for no one else, except maybe Harold in their heyday. She loved patiently explaining everything step by step, repeating the same answer to the same question over and over again, telling the same kid to stop talking or sit still over and over again in the same day. It was monotonous, while somehow each day was new.

Her classroom was filled with the artwork of students, and tons of charts. Dove was a sucker for a good chart, and many of them were partly of the children’s creation. What made a good and a bad student, a line graph of what foods were “sometimes” food and what foods were “everyday” foods, a basic multiplication chart. But all the charts in the world could not control the behavior of kids when something new and exciting was happening.

Her kids had been begging her to let them go see the policemen all day. She knew better, though, than to let 23 third graders bombard policemen on their job. As much as she wanted them to learn the importance of such a career, their safety was paramount, so she ignored their increasingly insistent cries to see the policemen in action.

That was, until one of the kids pointed and said, “Why is there a man looking in the window?”

Dove’s eyes darted over and took in the masked man once more. “Okay, it’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about. The cops will take care of it.” None of the kids were listening, as they ran to the window and pressed their faces up against the window. The man was running away.

Soon Nate and Jessica could be seen, guns drawn, around the side of the building. “He’s over there!” a kid screamed, pointing. Dove doubted Nate or Jessica could hear them, but they seemed to notice where the man was anyway, and went taking off after him. He ran off into the one-way streets, and Nate and Jessica ran after him.

* * *

Nate stumbled after Jessica. They couldn’t chase him in their car; he was ducking over and over again between alleys and houses. Nate’s foot caught on the loose sidewalk, but he managed to propel himself a step forward. The man was nowhere to be seen. “Jess,” he called. “We may as well stop.”

“Right,” she said. “Guess it’s time to tell the captain this guy is the real deal.”

“What do we do about Dove? We can’t very well tell her to walk back to Ms. Orolv’s house all alone.”

“I’m not sure we should drive her back in the police car. If he’s watching us, he’ll know where she is.”

“But what do we do with her then?”

“Take her to the station with us. He won’t follow her there. From there, maybe someone can drive her back in an unmarked car.”

“What about her class?”

“That’s for the school to take care of. Surely they can have someone come watch them, even after such short notice. It’s for the safety of the children, after all. That must matter to them if nothing else does.”

“Let’s go get her,” Nate said. They walked into the school.

When they got into the classroom, a man was there with Dove. Principal Lestrade, in fact. Dove was packing up her things.

“Oh, good, you’re getting ready,” Jessica said. “We’d like to take you back to the precinct with us, at least until we can find a place for you to be safe. Can I assume the principal will watch your class for now?”

“Yeah, he’ll take care of them,” she answered.

Nate was relieved. He knew Dove wouldn’t leave her class with just anyone, but she must trust the man if he was the principal. He didn’t want her having any worries.

She waved to the class. “Goodbye, I’ll see you all soon. There’s nothing to be scared of. The police are going to take care of us.”

“Why can’t you stay with us?” one of the kids called out, fear behind his little voice.

“She’s going to help us catch the bad guy,” Jessica said.

“Ms. Babcock, you’re like a superhero!” a little girl said.

“No, she’s like a cop,” a boy retorted.

“Sometimes those people are the same things,” another kid said.

Nate would’ve laughed at that if the moment hadn’t been so serious. He didn’t think it would be right to laugh when Dove seemed in such danger. Instead, he waved goodbye to the kids. “Maybe someday later we can come talk to you,” he said, “but for now we have to go.” He led the women out of the room and to the car.

“Back of a cop car again,” Jessica said, opening a door for Dove.

“For now, this feels pretty safe, believe it or not,” she said. Nate believed it.

He drove to the precinct and opened the door for her. He was just thankful this time he didn’t push her head down. Dove climbed out. He ushered her inside. Everyone looked when they entered, and Nate thought he saw a few eyes roll. He wanted to scream at them, but he held back his anger. He remembered Dove’s constant calm. He wanted to figure out how to live that out.

Lieutenant Monroe came over. “Well, to what do we owe the pleasure, Ms. Babcock?”

“We found a man stalking her at school,” Nate said. “Didn’t you hear us call for backup?”

“And where is this man?”

“Somewhere off in Washington Road, in all black. Thin frame, pink lips, blue eyes. Not a lot else could be made out,” Jessica answered.

“Right. Well, why is Ms. Babcock here, then?”

“We thought we could take her in an unmarked car back to where she’s staying so that the man won’t know where that is.” Nate didn’t like getting the third degree, especially from Leslie. He thought the woman trusted him by now. They had known each other practically forever.

“Very well. Jessica, why don’t you take her back while Nate and I have a talk?”

Jessica nodded, and led Dove out. Nate walked over to Leslie, wondering what was going on.

“You actually saw the man, right, Nate?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Good, good. You know, there’s some rumors spreading around about you and Dove.”

“What? Why?” Nate didn’t think he did very well hiding his surprise.

“Apparently, she came to your house last night, and you ate dinner together. I’m sure you know what happens when people date someone who’s involved in a case.”

“We’re not dating! She heard about the accident and brought me lasagna. I invited her in, because it seemed like the polite thing to do. She wasn’t there long, and it definitely wasn’t a date.”

“But you wanted it to be one.”

“Who said that?”

“Everyone, but that’s not the point. Rumors only matter if they’re true. This one is.”

“So what? I like someone. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”

“You’d better not. Your sister is never going to forgive me if you get kicked off the force.”

Nate wanted out of the conversation. It wasn’t up to Leslie who he liked. It wasn’t up to his sister, either. He was insulted anyone would think he would try something.

But he remembered the message of the pastor that week. That there was grace to be given. Maybe he needed to give Leslie’s intent another look. Maybe she wasn’t hoping to control him, but rather keep him out of trouble. Maybe she didn’t approach it in the kindest way, but she was trying to do what was best for him.

“Thank you, Leslie,” he said. “I’ll be careful.”

“Good. And find that bastard. As soon as you do, you have free rein.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. He wanted to have a shot with Dove, but he thought it might take a lot more than simply wanting her badly and getting permission from the force. What he needed most was permission from Dove.