Page 18 of Love Undecided
Chapter 9
Kat
I meet Bauer at the precinct after my therapist appointment and we work through the morning. Stopping only to grab a quick bite to eat before we set out to visit the houses of The Shower Stealer’s victims. We choose to hit the farthest first and then work our way back toward the precinct. A woman with short blonde hair in her early-thirties answers the door: medium height, yoga pants and tank top, infant in one hand and burp cloth in the other.
She looks back and forth between the two of us, her gaze lingering on Bauer.
“Can I help you?” she asks.
“Are you Amber Jones?” Bauer asks.
“Yes, what is this in regard to?”
Bauer pulls out his badge and shows it to her.
“I’m Detective Chance Bauer, and this is Investigative Consultant, Kat Walker. We’d like to ask you a few questions about the day your home was broken into and the shower was left on, if that’s okay.”
“Is this because you haven’t caught him yet?” she asks. “Do you have any leads? I’m sure any clues you might have found are long gone. Plus, I’ve cleaned the bathroom since then. What do you hope to find?” She lets us in and leads us to the living room.
Bauer counters her questions with a few of his own and soon she is telling us her entire life story. Bauer seems to have that effect on people.
Well, on women.
She grew up in Virginia, married her high school sweetheart, military widow as of four years ago, and on her second marriage. Two kids from the first husband, a girl twelve, Makayla, and a boy ten, Michael. One child from her current husband, five-month-old infant, Marcus. A stay-at-home Mom who needs to leave in an hour to get the older kids from school.
While Bauer talks to her, I go to the bathroom to see if I can get a feeling for anything. A high-pitched female laugh breaks my concentration and I come up blank.
“You are too much!” I hear Amber Jones nearly scream. Judging from the giggles in the living room, Bauer is clearly scoring.
I walk back into the living room in time to see her squeezing Bauer's bicep, asking him how often he works out.
WTF?
I feel my eyes narrow as I look at her, somewhat surprised that I'm jealous. He looks up at me and I give him a slight shake of my head. He excuses us after a few minutes and we make our exit.
"I take it your shake of the head means you didn't get anything?" he asks.
"Yes,” I say. I pause for a moment, then continue talking, “You know she's married, right?"
"Who?"
"Mrs. Jones."
"Of course. Why, what do you think was happening back there?" he asks.
"Uh, you were hitting on her…. Duh…. Totally not professional, Bauer."
"I was not hitting on her. We were just discussing... you know what, it doesn't matter. You ever been married?"
"No,” I say, immediately feeling guilty. “You?"
"I was close. Once."
"What happened?" I ask.
He’s silent for a minute, then starts talking,
“I’ve thought about that a lot over the years, and probably more then than now, but I think the simplest answer is that we grew apart. During that time when we should have been in a ‘honeymoon’ phase, where it was all supposed to be fun and easy, it just kept getting harder. I realize relationships are work, I’m not naïve, but I also know that it’s not supposed to be such a struggle all the time. Do you know what I mean?”
