More Than Friends (21 page)

She gave a terse nod and stepped back. Embarrassing them both in front of their peers wouldn’t accomplish anything. She’d have to hope Kendall came around or she could find an opportunity to get her alone. She had purposely not tried to contact Kendall for the remainder of the weekend in order to give her time to cool down. But obviously not enough time had passed.

She crossed the room and took a seat at a table by the door. Riggs sat down beside her, looking as if he wanted to say something. But she was spared when the lieutenant took his place at the front of the room. As soon as they were dismissed, she slipped out the door, hurried to her car, and drove out of the parking lot.

For the next seven-and-a-half hours, she buried herself in work, volunteering for every call as soon as she finished the last. She ran from one end of the sector to the other, until even the dispatcher, a regular on their channel, sent her an instant message on her laptop asking what was up with her tonight. She brushed off the inquiry with a joke about dealing with citizens. While she knew officers who carried on personal conversations over the computer, she didn’t. Anything she put in the computer became government property and could be retrieved by ITS.

She had only an hour left in her shift when she got dispatched on a robbery at a convenience store in her sector. No other officers nearby were available, and she heard the dispatcher calling for someone to check in and back her up. After a moment of radio silence, Kendall keyed up and said she would be in route. A bubble of hope formed in her heart, though her head said that Kendall was a good cop and would do her job no matter the personal issues. Kendall’s willingness to back her up didn’t indicate an inch of forgiveness.

*

“Mr. McCandless, you have to calm down.”

“Calm down—I’ve just been robbed. My coworker was shot.”

“I know but—” Kendall didn’t even get a full sentence in.

“The man put a gun in my face and my life flashed before my eyes. I’ve only been the manager a month. They made me transfer from Green Hills to take this store and a man puts a gun in my face, then shoots the man standing next to me.” He spoke rapidly, not even taking time to breathe between sentences. By the end of the tirade, his strained voice faded on a gasp. He wrung his slender hands together then wiped them on his pants legs. Beads of perspiration trickled out of his hairline and down the side of his face. He swiped at them, plastering his thin, brown hair to his forehead.

“I know it’s a lot.” A robbery and a shooting would stress even the most experienced convenience-store manager. McCandless obviously wasn’t a seasoned employee. “But your clerk is on the way to the hospital and the paramedics said he’s going to be fine. You’re not hurt. Why don’t you sit down for a minute?” Kendall glanced around the small break room, then gestured to a table and chairs nearby.

She had arrived just behind Evelyn, who had her hands full dealing with the injured clerk and the hysterical manager. One of the paramedics gave her a look when McCandless got in his way one too many times, so she had ushered the upset man into the back room, separating him from the scene and her from Evelyn.

He pulled out a chair, startling himself when the metal feet scraped loudly across the floor. She sat in the one opposite him and took a small notebook out of the breast pocket of her shirt.

“Now, can you tell me what the guy looked like?”

“Guys. There were two. One black and one white.”

“Did they both have guns?”

“Yes.”

“Which one shot the clerk?”

“The white guy. I don’t know his name, but I’ve seen him in here before. The other guy freaked out when he fired the gun, said they weren’t supposed to shoot anyone.” He answered her questions quickly and clearly, more calm now that he had something to focus on.

“And what did the white guy do?”

“He told him to shut up, and they grabbed the money and ran out.”

“Did they leave in a car?”

He nodded. “A tan Oldsmobile.”

“You’re sure it was an Oldsmobile.”

“Absolutely. It was an Alero. I recognized it because my mother used to have one just like it.”

“Good. Did anything else stand out about the car—tinted windows, rims, bumper stickers, damage anywhere on it?”

“Not that I recall.”

“Okay. Excuse me for one second.” She turned away and transmitted the vehicle description over the radio for other officers in the area.

She managed to draw out some details about the suspects’ clothing and personal appearance and put them out as well. When she’d gotten everything she could from McCandless, she asked him to call whomever he needed to in order to get the security-camera videos pulled. She also gave him a card and told him not to go anywhere in case the detective had more questions. He flipped a cell phone from a holster on his belt and was on the phone with his district manager before she got out of the room.

She stepped outside as the ambulance pulled out of the parking lot with the victim. During the robbery, two customers had been inside the store and one man was at the gas pumps. Now they had been separated and were being questioned by other officers.

“What do you have?” Sergeant Stahlman called as he strode across the parking lot.

She filled him in on the manager’s account of the incident. By the time she’d finished, Evelyn had joined them and added what little she’d been able to get from the injured clerk. “I have to update the captain so he can brief the media.” He nodded to their captain, who had just parked his unmarked car in the front of the parking lot. “I need one of you to complete the report and gather supplements from the other officers and the other to head over to the hospital to meet the detective.”

“It’s my zone. I’ll do the report,” Evelyn said.

“I’ve got the hospital. I’ll do my supplement while I’m there and take it by the station when I’m done.” Kendall addressed Sergeant Stahlman, purposely not looking at Evelyn. Instinct screamed at her to make eye contact, share a nod or a smile, but she steadfastly squelched the impulse.

Stahlman nodded, pantomimed smoothing his hair back from his forehead as if preening for the media, then headed across the lot toward the captain’s car.

“Kendall,” Evelyn said, taking a step toward her.

She started to turn away without responding, but she didn’t get far. Jennifer Prince pulled her patrol car up close, stopping only a couple of feet from where she stood.

“Hello, ladies,” she said as she climbed out of the car.

“What are you doing on this side of the river, Princess?” Evelyn asked.

“Sarge sent us to patrol the neighborhood for your suspect.”

Kendall nodded. “The manager said he’s seen him in the store before, so it’s possible he lives over here.”

“Okay. I’ll be in the area. Call me if you get anything else on him.” She pulled open her car door, then said, “A bunch of us are going out for drinks later. You two should come along.”

When Evelyn glanced at her, she knew she was trying to gauge her willingness to socialize in the same crowd.

“Maybe next time,” she said. Without waiting for Jennifer to respond, she skirted Jennifer’s car. A night out with the girls actually sounded like fun, but only if Evelyn wasn’t there.

As she walked away she heard Jennifer ask, “Wow. What’s her problem?”

“Me.” Evelyn sighed.

“What? Why?”

She was out of range so she didn’t catch the rest of Evelyn’s response. Evelyn would probably go out with Jennifer and the others. Maybe she’d have a few drinks and spill the whole story. By tomorrow, not only would Evelyn and Melanie be laughing at her behind her back, but so would all their friends.

*

Evelyn paused in the doorway of the bar, already wishing she hadn’t come. She’d only done it to prove to herself that she could go one more day without seeing Melanie. They had texted on and off all weekend, but she had purposely stayed away, testing herself, and Melanie hadn’t pushed. Since she might have torpedoed her friendship with Kendall, she wanted to know that these new feelings for Melanie were real. Tonight, instead of going out drinking, she only wanted to go to Melanie.

But Jennifer had already seen her and waved her over to a table across the bar. And a man trying to enter the bar bumped into her then shoved her farther inside. He pushed past her without a word.

“Excuse me. No, I’m sorry, totally my fault,” she mumbled as she forced herself forward.

The place had been open just over a year and she had been here only a handful of times. The small area had been designed as the counterpart to the clubs down the street with their thumping music, fog machines, and laser lighting. The jukebox in the corner only played if someone pumped quarters into it and didn’t have any club mixes on it. The square tables in the center of the room didn’t leave enough space for a dance floor anyway.

But the bar was popular among the lesbians who weren’t interested in watching a drag show or bumping and grinding on the dance floor. The bright décor supplemented the absence of auditory stimulation. Vividly colored paintings studded the warm reddish-orange walls, and strings of white LED lights followed the lines of the dark exposed beams along the ceiling.

Every stool at the bar was occupied, and women squeezed into the spaces between and lined up three deep, awaiting the attentions of the two bartenders scrambling to keep up with drink orders.

“Hey, girl,” Jennifer called as she approached. “Have a seat.” She pulled out the chair next to her and Evelyn dropped into it. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“No, thanks. I’m good.” Alcohol was not in her plan for the night. She wanted a clear head, not a place to drown her thoughts.

“Are you sure?” The waitress brought over a tray of shots and lined four of them up on the table in front of them.

“Tell me these aren’t all for you.”

Jennifer laughed. “Of course not. The other girls are at the bar. So, before they get back, tell me what’s going on between you and Miss Kendall. Why were you all tense and twitchy around each other?”

She grimaced. Was she really contemplating whether to confide in her one-time one-night stand about her feelings for her friend who used to date her other friend? When had her life become a soap opera?

“Come on. It stays between us.”

Maybe sharing with someone would help. At one time, she would have hashed her problems out with Kendall or Melanie. Until she got her head around what direction she was headed, neither was an option. Kendall wouldn’t speak to her. And she couldn’t talk to Melanie about her feelings for Melanie until she knew exactly what she was feeling for Melanie. Hell, her thoughts were even confusing her.

“Absolutely between us, okay? I don’t want to be the gossip of the department.”

“I swear.” Jennifer held her hand up as she made the vow.

She nodded and started slowly, telling a circuitous story. But once she began she couldn’t stop talking and eventually poured out the whole tale, ending with Kendall’s discovery of them kissing and subsequent refusal to talk to her.

“Wow.” Jennifer had leaned forward during her narrative, and now she settled back into the booth. “And Kendall didn’t beat the shit out of you?”

She let her head drop forward as Jennifer’s words illuminated her guilt. “I’m an ass, aren’t I?”

“A little bit, yeah. Did you think there was any way she would be okay with this?”

“No, I guess not. I kept telling myself not to do it, Jenn. I knew she’d hate me. But—I’ve just never felt like this before. I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“Okay, but it’s a rule, Evelyn. You don’t date your friend’s ex. Especially not a long-term one who only recently dumped her.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“You took a risk, followed your heart, I guess I get that. But it might have cost you.”

“It almost certainly did.”

“Is she worth it?”

“What?”

“Melanie. What’s between the two of you?”

“It’s so strange. I’ve always thought she was amazing and gorgeous, and who wouldn’t be half in love with her. But she was in a relationship with my best friend—happily, I thought. After Kendall—well, after Kendall started dating again and I began spending time alone with Melanie, things changed. And now, it’s new—but it’s familiar, you know.”

“Cut the bullshit and just tell me, Evelyn. Are you serious about her?”

She didn’t need to think. The rush of emotions that followed Jennifer’s question provided her answer. “Yeah. I am.”

“Then I hope it works out for you.”

“That’s it?”

“Did you think I was going to say something else?”

“I thought you might tell me how to fix things with Kendall.”

Jennifer grunted a humorless laugh. “Good luck with that.”

She shook her head and rubbed her fingertips over her forehead. “Shit.”

“You two had a secret behind her back. She feels like a fool, and for good reason, I think.”

She nodded. Kendall felt betrayed, she got that. But how could she explain or apologize if Kendall wouldn’t listen to her? The only option was to wait until Kendall was ready to talk.

“What are you going to do about Melanie?” Jennifer asked.

She shrugged. Would Kendall be more likely to come around if she and Melanie weren’t together? And even if she would, could she do it—stop spending time with Melanie? Just the thought made her chest ache. Maybe she’d screwed everything up with Kendall, but would throwing away the connection she’d built with Melanie right that wrong? Her heart said no. None of the women she’d dated made her feel even half of what she felt when she was with Melanie—when she held her and kissed her.

She needed to see her. She’d convinced herself she could think more clearly if she stayed away. But her head swam with images and memories of Melanie. She wanted to be with her, to talk out this situation with her.

She stood and put a hand on Jennifer’s shoulder. “I have to go. Thanks for listening.”

“You just got here,” Jennifer said, grabbing her hand.

“I need to be somewhere else.”

“I guess your decision is made.”