Feels Like Summertime(21)

I believed that one. Once. I believed he could.

Then, the very last email, which was sent four days ago, opens up in my inbox.



Dearest Katie,

If you don’t come home, I will find you and kill you.

With utmost affection, Me





I drop my head into my hands. Then I forward all the emails, every last one, to the agent back home who is assigned to my case.

The baby kicks, and I suddenly have to pee.

I leave the computer open, because I still haven’t done the Web searches I wanted to do. I wanted to check the newspapers back home and see if there’s anything I need to be aware of. There’s always the tiny chance that he has done something stupid and he’s in prison again. That would be a blessing. But the agent assigned to my case would have gotten a message to me by now if that had happened.

I wander down the hallway, trying to remember the way to the bathroom. I open the first door I come to and stop when I realize it’s Jake’s room. It hasn’t changed. His baseball trophies still line the shelf and he has pictures stuck to the corners of his dresser mirror. I step closer and see one of him and Fred when they were young. Fred came here every summer, from what Jake told me. They were pretty close, partners in crime. They got into more trouble than two people should be allowed to get into. The picture of Fred with his bright red hair makes me smile. We had a lot of good times together, the three of us.

But what makes me stop, heave in a breath, and clutch my heart, is the picture in the frame on the edge of his bedside table. It’s grown-up Jake. And a woman. He has his arm around her and she’s glowing. So is he. She has golden hair that hangs past her shoulders, and her face is radiant in the sunshine. She’s also very, very pregnant.

“I was supposed to be a dad,” a voice says from behind me.

I startle, and Jake walks up behind me.

“What happened?” I ask.

“It wasn’t meant to be,” he says, his voice heavy and full of emotion. He swallows hard.

“What does that mean?”

“You first, Katie,” he says. He jerks a thumb toward the kitchen. “I saw your computer.”

“What right do you have to snoop through my computer!”

“I have every right,” he says. I open my mouth to ream him a new one, but he holds up a finger and shushes me. “I have loved you since I was a kid, Katie.” He lays a hand upon his chest. “I still love you.”

My breath hitches. He has no idea how much I needed to hear that.

“Who’s stalking you, why, and why the hell is he telling you he’s going to kill you when he finds you?”

I blow out a breath. “Jake…”

“Katie…”

I point at the picture. “Tell me about her.”

“She was my wife. And she’s not anymore.”

“And?” I roll my finger to make him keep talking.

“And nothing. That’s all there is to it.”

“Liar. There’s more.” I narrow my eyes and stare at him. “She’s why you’re here. She’s why you’re not working. Tell me everything, Jake.”

He glares at me. “You first.”





20





Jake





Thirty hours of labor and my wife Laura was finally sleeping after getting an epidural. I was dead on my feet, but there was too much to do. I couldn’t get in a catnap. Besides, I wasn’t the one who was going to have to push a kid out of my vagina. Laura had to do all that. She deserved to sleep. But while she took a quick rest, I went to the waiting room to tell the family what was up.

We had decided months ago that we would be the only people, aside from doctors and nurses, in the delivery room. We wanted to share the moment together, to bask in the wonder of our new addition. We had tried for so long to get pregnant, and Laura had gone through so many miscarriages that this was a dream come true.

We were going to have a baby.

I was going to be a dad. After years of jizzing into a cup, and years of Laura going through fertility treatments that sent her hormones into a tizzy on a regular basis, this was the final step. She just had to deliver the healthy baby we’d been expecting for nine months, and we would be parents.

I stepped into the waiting room and Fred, my partner at work and my best friend from way back, jumped to his feet. Fred and I went through the police academy together, we went through training together, and we’d worked hard to become a team, fighting crime in the big city of New York. He was my best friend, so it didn’t surprise me that he was still here.

“How is she?” he rushed to ask.

“She’s finally sleeping. They gave her an epidural.”

Fred ran a hand through his bright red hair. “That’s good.” He relaxed a little.

“You okay, buddy?”

He nodded. “Just scared.” He held up a hand like he was surrendering to the cops. “For you. And for Laura. I’m scared for you guys. You’re going to be a dad. God, I can’t believe it.” He avoided my gaze.

A nurse opened the door to Laura’s room and stuck her head out. “Mr. Jacobson, it’s time.”

“It’s time?” Fred ran a hand through his hair again. Sweat sheened his forehead.