She Never Came Home

Chapter 13

"Hey, Pete," CHP Officer Daniel Lopez greeted Peter Gregg as they crossed paths in the corridor of the Division Office. After making a point of glancing upward at the wall clock, which read 12:20, Lopez added, "You're running late for the swing shift, aren't you? Bucking for some overtime?"

"I could say the same for you," Gregg replied. "I thought you were working Graveyard...didn't that start almost half an hour ago?"

"Yeah, had to wait for our unit to be cleaned from last shift...some drunk puked all over the back seat..."

"Shit happens," Pete grinned and then added, "and you're probably lucky that it didn't literally happen..."

Lopez chuckled and then paused as Peter started to walk past him. "What the hell happened to your face, dude?"

"Huh?" Pete was surprised by the question.

"Your wife finally get fed up with your extra-curricular antics or something?" Daniel joked.

Pete instinctively raised a hand to his cheek as if he'd been slapped and then hastily explained, "I slipped in an oil slick while I was refueling. Fell face-first against a chain-link fence."

"I was joking, bro," Daniel said in response. He'd never met Pete's wife, but he'd heard rumors that Pete liked to flirt with some of the ladies in the department. He should probably keep his sense of humor in check, he thought to himself. "You're still bleeding, you should probably check in at the clinic..."

"Maybe later," Pete dismissed him. "I've got a ton of paperwork to finish first before I can clock out."

"I hear ya," Daniel nodded. "I'll be glad when our division gets those computerized ticketing devices they're using in Santa Clara County. Word has it we'll get start getting them sometime next month, but you know how that goes..."

"Will definitely make life easier," Peter mumbled as he continued on his way.

One hour later, Pete had turned in his paperwork and checked out for his shift. When he arrived home, he was surprised to see that Karen was still awake and waiting for him.

"You're very late, Sweetheart, is everything OK?" His wife greeted him with a kiss. She stood back as he removed his CHP jacket and then asked with concern, "What happened to your face?"

"Geez, can you give me a minute to get in the door before you badger me with questions?"

"I'm sorry." The hurt expression on Karen's face combined with the way she almost shrunk away from him immediately made Peter feel guilty for lashing out at her.

"I'm sorry, too, Babe," he said in a softer tone of voice. "It's just been a long day." He opened the door of the front closet and hung up his jacket. "Hey, why don't you grab me a beer and we'll sit and unwind, OK?"

Karen smiled, nodded, and then dashed off to the kitchen. She returned moments later with two bottles of beer. Peter opened one and took a grateful sip and then sunk back into the couch cushions with a sigh. "Is Scott asleep?" He asked her.

"No, Ben picked him up a couple days early," she replied, referring to her son's father.

"I thought your custody agreement required one week's notice for visitation changes." Pete's natural strict black-and-white sense of abiding by rules was immediately irritated. "He wasn't supposed to 'get' Scotty until New Year's Eve."

"I know," Karen replied, almost apologetically, "but Ben's parents are in town, and they don't get to see their grandson that often... And they wanted to take him to LegoLand... Anyway, Scott seemed so excited to get to spend time with them, I didn't want to disappoint him."

"You're too much of a softie sometimes," Peter commented after another sip of beer. "Scotty's almost nine years old, he's going to have to learn that disappointment is a part of life."

"I've got some chili that's been simmering in the crock pot all day, in case you're hungry," Karen decided that it might be best to change the subject.

Pete took another long drag off his bottle of beer and then replied with closed eyes, "That sounds great, Babe."

Encouraged by his response, Karen added in a rush, "and I've got sour cream and shredded cheese to put on top, just like you like it, and I can make some Pillsbury biscuits real quick if you want them on the side..."

"No need to go to so much trouble," Pete was starting to mellow out... or at least not be as agitated as he'd been moments before.

"OK, you sit and relax and I'll call you when your food is ready," Karen reached over and quickly stroked Peter's scalp before she went back into the kitchen.

As she scooped some chili out of the crock pot into a large tureen (part of a set she'd received at her wedding shower, not quite two years ago), she tried to ignore the sound of her mother's voice suddenly echoing in the back of her head.... "He's been married twice before, there has to be a reason those marriages didn't last..."

Karen had told her mother what Peter had explained to her while they'd been dating...that his previous wives were demanding and unreasonable and didn't understand what it meant to be the wife of a California Highway Patrolman. She'd empathized with him back in those days...telling him that he needed a woman who'd take care of him because of the dangerous nature of his job, despite the erratic hours. OK, truth be told, he was easy on the eyes and there was something about a man in uniform that tended to turn her guts into schoolgirl mush. Sure, he wasn't perfect... there had been times when his outbursts of temper had frightened her. But he had never actually been violent with her, which was more than she could say about some of her previous boyfriends. So when he eventually proposed to her, she didn't hesitate to accept. Maybe part of his appeal was that he'd promised her that she could give up her current jobs... She'd met him while working the counter of a 24-hour restaurant, and once he became a regular customer he'd make a point of chatting with her. He'd ask her about her dating life, where she lived, and she'd told him about the second job she had at a local convenience store. Looking back, she realized that she'd probably been shamelessly flirting with him during one of their conversations when he'd asked, "What are your goals? What do you want to do with your life?" and she'd smiled and replied that all she'd ever wanted to be was a wife and mother.

"Dinner's ready, if you are," Karen called. Peter walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, his second bottle of beer in hand.

"Smells good," he commented when she set down a tureen of chili topped with melted cheese and sour cream in front of him. He picked up a spoon.

"Careful – very hot!" Karen warned as she set down a sleeve of saltine crackers as a proffered side dish.

Pete was about half-way through his bowl of chili before he looked up at Karen and asked, "Have you ever thought about moving up north?"

"What?" Karen was confused. He'd never mentioned moving anywhere before. "Up north where?"

"Ukiah," he replied and then spooned another heaping helping of chili into his mouth. After he swallowed he added, "I saw a notice on the bulletin board...the CHP has an opening for a sheriff position there." He swirled his spoon in the tureen and scooped up some more chili. "It pays more than what I get now, and I'd pretty much be in charge..." He put the spoon into his mouth and remained quiet.

"I don't know much about Ukiah," Karen admitted, "but I'm married to you, not this city."

Peter seemed to be encouraged by her response. "It's sort of a rural area, but like I said, I'd get a pay increase, and the cost of living is cheaper, and what better place to raise a family than out in the country...?"

Karen smiled and sort of shrugged. "If you think that's best for us...I mean, if it means more money, and not so much danger while you're out on patrol... whatever you think is best."