Part 13 (1/2)
Rainey was angry, Katie was angry, and this conversation was going nowhere unless they figured out what they were angry about. Rainey knew anger was usually a symptom of a deeper emotion, like fear. The a.n.a.lyst in Rainey watched Katie's body language. She listened to the tone of Katie's voice. Rainey needed to be calm and rational, in response. As long as they remained standing and confrontational, nothing would be accomplished.
”Katie, sit down,” Rainey said, in her best soothing voice.
Rainey learned something at that moment about women, for which her behavioral a.n.a.lyst job did not prepare her. Never tell an angry woman to sit down. She had faced off men twice her size and told them to sit their a.s.ses down, she had taken control of drug crazed bond skippers, but she would never again tell Katie to sit down during an argument. It had the same effect as throwing water on a grease fire. Katie stood on her tiptoes and let fly with everything that had been bothering her since they met. Rainey could only stand by and watch.
”I will not sit down! I have a few things to say and I intend to stand here and say them. First of all, yes, I did know what you did for a living and I have done my best to accept the fact that every time you walk out that door could be the last, but you take unnecessary risks and that is selfish. Do you ever think about how I feel? You walk around fully armed and alarmed, but you put yourself in situations that are dangerous for no reason. Do you have a death wish? If you do, tell me now, so I can try to fall out of love with you.”
”Katie, I...” Rainey tried to say something, but it was no use.
”Second, if you think for one minute I'm going to live the rest of my life in fear, you are sadly mistaken. I will not live like that and you don't have to, either.”
Rainey saw her opportunity to respond. ”I don't take unnecessary risks and I don't want you to live in fear. I just want you to be cautious and aware.”
”Bull s.h.i.+t, Rainey. You want me in this cottage where you think you can protect me. I see the apprehension in your eyes every time I get in the car. I have accommodated your fears and stayed close to home, most of the time, but I have been alone about as much as I intend to be. I'm re-entering my life and I won't be looking at every person I meet as a potential threat.”
”So, this really isn't about me, is it?” Rainey shot back. She could remain calm in the worst of situations, but Katie could make her crazy. Like now, when Rainey should have shut up, but didn't. ”Now that the fog of your trauma is lifting, you can see the future, and you don't like what you see. Is that it?”
”Don't a.n.a.lyze me. I did not say I didn't want a future with you. I said I don't want to live in fear. We don't have to. We could leave here and never look back. I have enough money for both of us. You don't have to risk your life every day... I'm not good cop wife material, Rainey.”
Rainey had this conversation, albeit a bit differently, with Bobby. She knew where this was going and the pain caused her to lash out. ”You picked a fine time to come to that conclusion.”
”We can't bring a child into this environment of fear and mistrust,” Katie said, emphatically.
”Then don't!”
That was the deal breaker. Katie left the room. Rainey did not follow her. She grabbed a bottle of bourbon from the cabinet and went to the kitchen for a gla.s.s, to await what she knew was coming next.
A few minutes later, Katie came out of the bedroom carrying a suitcase. Rainey couldn't stop her if she tried, so she didn't. Rainey stood in the archway to the kitchen, as Katie pa.s.sed without a word. Katie turned at the door, looking back at Rainey. Katie started to say something, but changed her mind. With tears streaming down her face, she disarmed the alarm, opened the door, and walked out of Rainey's life.
Chapter ten.
Rainey didn't fall apart when Katie shut the door, at least not right away. She sat on the couch, the open bottle of bourbon on the table in front of her, shot gla.s.s in her hand. She knocked back another shot and watched the minutes tick by on the DVR display. When enough time had pa.s.sed, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Katie's parents. This was not a phone call she wanted to make, but she had to. After the third ring, Katie's father answered the phone.
”h.e.l.lo,” said the now familiar voice of Timothy Meyers.
”Mr. Meyers, this is Rainey.” He had asked her to call him Tim, but it didn't seem appropriate at the time.
”I suspected you would be calling when Katie arrived here in a puddle of tears. Would you mind telling me what's going on? We can't get anything out of Katie, she's so distraught.”
Rainey felt her own tears just below the surface. She was relieved that Katie was safe at her parents' home in Durham, but the magnitude of Katie's leaving was tearing at Rainey's heart. She told herself she only had to hold it together a few more minutes. She focused on her mission, and said. ”Mr. Meyers...”
He interrupted her, ”Please, call me Tim. You're family, now, even if there appears to be a problem with that, at the moment.”
Rainey began again, ”Tim, I need to tell you a few things. I'll let Katie tell you why she left me, but I need you to know that your family isn't safe.”
Suddenly more serious, Tim said, ”I'm listening.”
”A man I put in prison has information about you and your wife, as well as Katie. He now has a man on the outside who may be coming after me and the people I care about. He has killed two women so far, but I believe, and so does the FBI, that I am his main target. I was informed this evening that he knows who you all are and most likely where you live.”
Rainey heard Katie's voice choked with tears. ”If that's Rainey, just hang up,” she shouted, ”I don't want to talk to her.”
A searing knife of pain cut through Rainey. It was all she could do to keep from losing it.
She heard Tim say, ”Katie, I know you are upset, but I need to talk to Rainey. Please, go back in the kitchen with your mother.”
Rainey had to get the rest out, before she lost control. ”I'm going to ask the police to put a car in front of your house. I don't want anything to happen to any of you, because of me.”
She could hear Tim breathing on the other end of the phone. She let him absorb the information.
Finally, he spoke, ”Rainey, do I need to get my family out of town?”
”That wouldn't be a bad idea,” Rainey answered.
”What about you? Is someone watching you?”
Rainey genuinely liked Katie's father. His concern for her welfare was characteristic of the kind of man he was. Rainey tried to sound rea.s.suring, when she said, ”I'll be fine. My main concern is Katie and the rest of you. Please watch over her. She doesn't want anything to do with me right now, and that makes it difficult for me to protect her.”
”I'll keep her safe, Rainey, and I also want to offer a piece of advice. Having been through a few of Katie's meltdowns in the past, if you will be patient, her brain will re-engage in a day or two. My Katie is a bit hot headed when she's scared or hurt. Just give her time. She'll come around. She must care about you deeply to be this upset.”
A tear slid down Rainey's cheek. Her throat tightened and her voice cracked when she tried to speak. ”I... I don't know how to fix this.”
Tim spoke to Rainey, as her father would have, with tenderness and knowing in his voice. ”This too shall pa.s.s. I wasn't all that happy when Katie chose to live with you, but I see how you two love each other, and I know whatever caused this temporary separation will work itself out. My advice to you is to catch this guy and then try to fix your relations.h.i.+p. You can't do both at the same time.”
”Yes, sir,” was all Rainey could muster. Her tears flowed freely now.
”Don't worry about Katie. I will make sure the house is locked up tight and the alarm is on.”
”Thank you,” she choked out. ”I'm sorry this is happening.”
”This guy after you isn't your fault. Maybe you were just too good at your job.” Tim suddenly chuckled. ”And another thing you should know, I've been dealing with these emotional Meyers women for a lot longer than you have. Trust me, there will be a calm after the storm.”
Rainey was near the end of her ability to hold her tempest of emotions at bay. She had to get off the phone. ”I'll call you when I know something... and Mr. Meyers, load your gun.”
”I will. You stay safe.”
”Always,” was Rainey's familiar reply.