Learn To Love Again

Chapter 14

I woke up the next morning full of energy. I could hear rain outside but it did nothing to change my mood. When I glanced at the clock, I saw it was only a few minutes to five.

I threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. It was too early to start getting ready for work but I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep again, and I knew what would happen if I lay alone in this bed just listening to the rain. I would start thinking of Patrick. And I didn't want any of that right now.

On my way to the bathroom to take a shower, I paused in front of the chest long enough to plug in and turn on the radio. I inserted a disc and, as Milkshake blared through the air, I danced to the bathroom.

After a long, hot shower, I pulled on some clothes, turned off the radio, and went downstairs.

By the time I got to the kitchen, the rain had stopped falling. I started the coffee maker then went upstairs to get my phone and earphones. When I returned to the kitchen, I connected the earphones, plugged them into my ears, started playing Pocketful of Sunshine, then placed my phone into my breast pocket.

I danced around the kitchen, getting together ingredients for some pancakes. The song ended when I was just beginning to stir the batter and I put it on replay. There was just something addictive about that song!

Just as I was about to pour some batter into the skillet, something unfamiliar in the song caught my attention.

The words after the line:

I got a love and I know that it's all mine...

was mixed together with loud sirens.

I had to admit, the sirens blended perfectly, but I just couldn't remember hearing them in the song before.

I shrugged it off and continued to pour batter into the skillet. When the pot was full, I placed the bowl on the table and headed over to the fridge to get out an egg.

The sirens in the song began to get annoying and I unplugged the earphones.

The sirens only got louder and I realized they weren't coming from the song. They were coming from outside!

I quickly shut the fridge door and headed for the front door to see what was going on outside. As I reached out to turn the doorknob, there was a knock on the door. I opened it and came face-to-face with two uniformed police officers...and detective Sterling.

Detective Sterling stepped forward and held up a sheet of paper.

"I have a warrant to search your house," he said in a professional voice.

I gasped, surprised. "What?"

He continued. "We were tipped off by a very reliable source that you may be hiding a stolen piece of jewelry inside."

"Are you kidding me?!" I exclaimed, my anger rising. "First I'm murdering women now I'm stealing jewelry?"

"Please step aside, Mrs. Saunders," he said in a serious tone.

"No!"

He sighed. "Refusing to let us in isn't going to help you."

"Do I look like I go around stealing jewelry?" I said, my anger at its peak. "I didn't steal anything, okay, so please leave!"

"If you didn't do anything then you have nothing to worry about. Now let's quickly get this over with so we can leave."

"I-" I stopped speaking as the scent of something burning filled my nostrils.

Oh no!

I spun on my heels and all but ran to the kitchen. Smoke was rising above the stove and when I quickly turned off the fire, I frowned as I realized that the edges of the unturned pancakes were now pitch black.

I sighed. There goes breakfast.

When I returned to the living room, I was irritated to see the officers had invited themselves in and were now heading up the stairs. Sighing, I followed them.

"Where's your library?" Detective Sterling asked, pausing in the hallway upstairs.

I gave him a sarcastic smile. "Didn't your very reliable source give you directions?"

"It would save us a lot of time if you would just show us where it is, Mrs. Saunders."

I rolled my eyes and walked off in the direction of the library. Once everyone was inside, I leaned against a wall and folded my arms, waiting to see Detective Sterling's face when he couldn't find anything.

"Where's your copy of Twilight?" He asked after a few moments of searching a few shelves with his companions.

"Why?" I asked.

"I think we both know why."

I sighed. "Let me guess, I hid the stolen jewelry in it?"

"Where's the book?" He demanded.

"Around here somewhere," I answered blandly.

"So this is how it's going to be?" He said before walking to another shelf.

I watched as they moved from shelf to shelf, and when one of the uniformed officers announced that he found the book, I stood upright in anticipation of what would happen.

The officer flipped open the book and skimmed through the pages. I let out a grunt when he closed the book and started skimming a second time, then a third.

"There's nothing there. Now can you leave?" I said.

Detective Sterling took the book from the officer, held it up by the covers with the spine turned upward, and started shaking it.

I sighed,- I seemed to be doing that quite often lately- growing impatient. How long was it going to take him to realize that there was no jewelry there?

"Seriously, I think-"

I stopped mid sentence as something fell from between the pages of the book. It was so small I had to walk over to where detective Sterling was and stand above it to see what it was.

I gasped and stared in shock at the small gold necklace that lay on the ground.

Detective Sterling picked it up and held it up in his hand. The pendant was a small golden dolphin and was attached to a fine gold chain. It was quite simple, yet there was something elegant about it.

Where had it come from? How did it get there?

"I've never seen that before," I said when detective Sterling took a step toward me.

My words fell on deaf ears as my arms were once again bounded by detective Sterling's handcuffs.

________________________________________________________________________

A/N:

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