“A woman.” CiCi gave a satisfied nod. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“After meeting her today, I can agree. She’s also not a dickhead. At this point, and very likely due to Hobart’s misstep, we’ll be sharing information. I’ll know more, and they’ll—including Xavier, who takes orders from her—listen more.”
“It takes a woman.” CiCi raised her glass.
“A lot of times it does. I’ve briefed my deputies and Donna. We’ve got Hobart’s photo front and center on the bullpen board. And we’re going to distribute her photo. I talked to the mayor about that, and about bringing on a couple of the summer deputies early. She’s good with it.”
“We’re an island,” Simone said. “She needs the ferry, a charter, or a private boat to get on or off. It’s harder to run.”
“You’re exactly right.”
“She could wait until you’re in Portland for something.”
“How would she know?” he countered, as much in truth as to soothe Simone. “I don’t do the social media thing, and that’s her main source. It’ll be here, and that’s an advantage for us.”
“You’re right.” Nodding, Simone sipped her wine. “You’re exactly right, too, but—”
“There are a lot of buts, and we’ll get to them. Another advantage for us is she’s trying to take on a cop, again. And a forewarned police force. I’ve studied her, and I’m going to bet I’ve studied her closer and longer than she’s studied me. Or you, Simone.”
Now CiCi reached for Simone’s hand. “We have to face that, don’t we? The fact that by coming here, she could try a two for one.”
“She has to get here first, and stay here long enough to observe routines and make a plan. That’s to our advantage, too—even in the summer, which is when she’ll come. Summer’s smarter. We’re crowded, lots of people, a lot going on, busy shops and restaurants. We’ll start watching for her now, but she’ll wait for summer. This year, maybe next. Now, to the buts.”
He leaned forward. “She’s smart and she’s cagey and she’s patient—though I think the patience is ripping under the anger and the crazy. She knows how to look like someone she’s not, and to act like someone she’s not. She knows how to go unnoticed, how to blend, and how to bullshit. On the other side of that? The two of you know faces. You’re going to study hers until you know every inch of it. I believe you’ll recognize her if you see her, no matter how she looks. You’ll know.”
“She won’t get by us.” CiCi gave Simone’s hand a squeeze. “Will she, baby?”
“No.”
“Here’s a list of rules,” Reed began.
“I hate rules. Too many stem from the patriarchal system designed to oppress the female.”
Reed aimed a long look at CiCi. “I’d like to see the patriarch or system that could oppress either one of you.”
CiCi smiled into her wine. “Many have tried and had their balls bruised in the attempt.”
“At the risk of my balls, these aren’t suggestions or guidelines. These are rules, like them or not. If you see her, you don’t approach or confront. You contact me or the nearest officer. If you see a strange car, bike, hiker going by the house more than once, you contact me. If you start getting hang ups or wrong numbers, you contact me. We’re going to do regular patrols.”
“What about your place?” Simone asked him.
“I’m a cop. It’s already patrolled. But if you’re there and I’m not, you lock up, and you don’t answer the door. Someone comes around, you contact me. If you’re driving into the village, or anywhere, and you see somebody broken down on the side of the road, you keep going.”
“And contact you,” CiCi figured.
“You get the idea. You take no chances. Those are simple precautions. I need you to vary your routines. Not that you have hard and fast ones anyway. But don’t shop on the same day of the week or the same time of day. Don’t take walks the same time and day. Whether or not you expect a delivery, if a truck pulls up, they leave the delivery outside. You don’t open the door, you don’t go out. Anything, anyone gives you an off feeling, you contact me. And no social media about plans.”
He sat back again. “You could put in an alarm system.”
“That,” CiCi said decisively, “isn’t going to happen.”
“I figured that, but you need to lock up, whether you’re here or out. Do that for me, okay?”
“I can do that. I don’t like it, but I can do it.”
“Good. I’m not going to insinuate the two of you can’t take care of yourselves. Especially since I don’t want my balls bruised, and I’m hoping for dinner. But I’m going to say I love both of you, and I’m going to look out for you. That’s it.”
“Don’t think we’re not going to look after you for the same reason.” CiCi rose, topped off her wine. “I’m going to start doing that now by making you a hot meal.”
“Don’t cook,” he said quickly. “I’ll go get takeout.”
“Cooking’s going to rebalance my chi.” She leaned over, kissed Reed. “You’re a lot smarter than she is, and so’s my girl. I’m damn well a lot cagier.”
Simone waited until CiCi went inside. “I didn’t bring it up, all this is enough, but if Hobart comes here, she’ll go back to Portland. My sister, my mother.”
“I’ve talked to Essie, and I talked to Jacoby. They’ll have eyes on your family.”
She got up, wandered over to look out at the water. The dog, finished with the treat, now lay stretched over Reed’s feet. “I should’ve known you’d think of them.”
“I talked to Boston PD, so they’re on alert. You’ll want to talk to Mi about it. I also talked to a friend of mine who I think she has on her list. He’s in New York now. I’m sorry to bring all this here.”
“You didn’t. She did. She started it all. It was her plan, and as horrible as it was, it didn’t work out the way she wanted. Neither will this. It’s funny. I love the island, always have. But I didn’t realize how much I do, how much it’s mine, until I realized she might come here and try to hurt someone who matters so much to me. Hurt someone else who matters so much. Who could try to stain this place the way she did the mall, and Portland? I never felt completely safe in Portland after that night.”
She turned back. “I went to New York as soon as I could. I went to Italy, I went wherever I could that wasn’t there. Most of the time, though, I came here. I sheltered in place, but I kept looking for somewhere or something else. I’m not sure I knew, until you, that it was more than that for me, more than sheltering in place. It was my place, my home. Nothing she can do will change that.”
She came back, slid over the arm of the chair into his lap. “There’s more than one kind of shelter. You’re another for me. I’m going to be the same for you.”
“I looked a long time for my place, and for you. It’s damn good luck I found them both.”
“You know what I thought when I came down the stairs earlier?”
“How easy you could be replaced?”
Laughing, she nuzzled in. “Besides that. I thought, I want to sculpt them—Reed and CiCi—just like that. Holding each other in a dance and smiling.”
“Naked? Listen—”
“There’s art, Chief, and there’s weird and inappropriate. No, not naked.”
“Okay then. You looked happy when you came down.”
“I’d had an excellent day working on a fascinating new project.”
He nuzzled back. “You’re not going to let me have a look at it?”
“When it’s done. Stay tonight. Stay with me.”
“I was hoping you’d ask. I’ve got our gear, mine and my new deputy’s, out in the car.”
In the kitchen, CiCi watched them out the window. This, she thought, just this—the blush in the sky as the day wore down; the strong, good man; even the sweet-faced dog—filled all her hope pockets for her girl.
No bitch from hell would rip holes in those pockets.
*
Two days later Reed got a call from Essie.
“We’ve got a Missing Person’s out on Seleena McMullen.”
“How long has she been missing?”