Retribution

Chapter Fourteen

The yellow-orange ball of the rising sun spilled out its rays of light directly into Katherine's eyes as she exited the front door of her apartment complex. She inhaled the crisp morning air and the cobwebs of her mind fell away. The night before had been terrible, sleepless. She'd tossed and turned all night thinking about Johnny, debating what to do. She wondered again what she should do about his cigarette lighter she'd found in her apartment the night it was searched. The fact that'd she'd found it, not Bailey, and that she hadn't told him disturbed her. She shivered, pulled her red cardigan closer and made her way to her car determined to start the morning fresh. The perfectionist inside her demanded she measure Pamela's house once more to double-check the accuracy of her floor plans before the construction crew started their work the next day.

The possibility of being able to finish the project brought a flush to her cheeks. She looked both ways before quickly crossing the street to where she customarily parked her little Chevy. It was while she was fumbling with her keys that she caught notice of an officious-looking black sedan parallel parked behind her car.

She stopped handling her keys and peered closer to the sedan to catch sight of a man sitting in the driver's seat, an open newspaper spread out over the steering wheel. He must be the man Detective Bailey had posted to watch her, she realized in exasperation. She was grateful for his presence at night, but in the day? It seemed absurd.

Her high heels clicked smartly on the asphalt as she marched over to the car and rapped loudly on the window. The man jerked up in surprise. Kate covered a snicker with a cough; he'd fallen asleep holding his newspaper. As he rolled down the window, she noticed yesterday's date on the top of the paper.

"You must be Bailey's man. Don't worry," she added when a look of concern crossed his face, "he already told me you were assigned to follow me. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

            "Yes, ma'am." He extended his hand through the open window. "Detective Green. I was with Bailey the night of Professor Drake's death."

"Of course. I wanted to tell you there's no reason to be following me today." She straightened up as though to prove her competence. "I guess you've seen Pamela, my friend and client. I'm just going to be working at her beach house. I really don't think anybody would follow me all the way out there."

He hesitated and cast his eyes downward briefly before he looked back up at her; faint blue circles were visible underneath his eyes, fine lines radiated out from their corners. He looked as though he hadn't slept in a week. "My job is to follow you. Dangerous or not, I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

"Really." Katherine exhaled in exasperation. "If that's not the stupidest thing. Why, anyone could see you're exhausted."He was silent. "Honestly, I'll be fine," she pleaded, continuing more forcibly as he appeared to be considering it. "If it'll make you feel any better I can ring up my friend Wesley and have him meet me over there." He still didn't answer but merely sat there sullenly. "Fine! Be exhausted and act like you're half dead all day while you follow me around doing my errands—I don't care."

She was turning on her heel to go when he called after her. "Wait!" He smiled sheepishly as she turned to look at him. "You should be fine if you're with your friend. Want to call him real quick and make sure he's available?"

She nodded. "Be right back."

It took her just under five minutes to reach Wesley and find out he just had a strenuous game of golf planned until noon that day and then was free.  

Then she was back at Green's car. "It's all set. He'll meet me over there soon as he is done golfing."

"Okay. I'll just follow you over to make sure you get there okay," he said and covered a yawn. "Could you stop by the drive-in on the corner on the way so I can get myself a quick cup of coffee?"