To Love and Protect (20 page)

"You think you need to actually tell me that?" she stammered, her foot resting on the gas petal just in case she needed to make a quick getaway.

"I’m on my way."

Shelley closed her eyes at the absurdity of it all, but only for a moment. Because she knew all too well that a moment was all that was needed for the situation to go from bad to worse.

ELEVEN

Just a few minutes passed before Shelley saw Matt's SUV pull up slowly behind her. Two police cars trailed him, then pulled out in front and headed down the driveway. Matt hopped out of his vehicle and came over to Shelley. "You can stay here if you want. I'm going down there to see what's going on."

"No, I want to go with you," she said, gaining sudden courage with Matt's secure presence.

"Okay, but stay behind me."

Sergeant Rinaldi and another officer were already questioning the prowler when Matt and Shelley reached the porch.

Who in the....

Shelley squinted in the dark to make out the shadowed figure that appeared dwarfed next to Sergeant Rinaldi's tall, lean frame.

"It looks like a woman," Shelley whispered to Matt.

"You're right."

Was Marge in fact a coconspirator with Herb after all? But as Shelley got closer and the police flashlights provided added illumination, she could see that this was no frumpy woman in a worn housedress and limp hair. In fact, the petite figure in chic black boots and cropped plaid wool pants, with chin-length, dark bouncing hair, looked all too familiar.

"Geri?" Shelley called out, feeling immediately relieved, if not foolish. After all, she had just set off alarms at the police department and probably gave Matt yet another scare, when the "prowler" was simply a coworker coming by to give her a hand. Yet, something didn't seem right. If this were in fact the scenario, then why did Sergeant Rinaldi look over at her with such a grim expression on his face? And for that matter, why did Geri seem dazed and on the verge of tears?

"Geri?" she asked again as she started up the steps behind Matt. "Are you okay?"

Geri looked back with her amber eyes but said nothing. Shelley followed Geri's eyes down to the floor of the porch, where a heap of
something
sat. Kneeling down, Shelley spotted a piece of paper tucked partially inside what appeared to be a pile of dirt. But her nose soon told her otherwise. It was manure, just like before.
Just like before?
As in the earlier threat? The same threat that was supposed to have disappeared now that Herb was behind bars?

"Geri, what's going on?" Shelley asked incredulously.

"It's not what it looks like," she said weakly, almost appearing to be in a state of shock.

"I hope not, little lady," Sergeant Rinaldi said, "because what it looks like ain't good."

Matt leaned down near the manure. "Anyone have gloves on them?"

"I'll get some from my car," the other officer said, returning soon after with a pair of latex gloves. Matt snapped them on and extracted the note. Sergeant Rinaldi held his flashlight over it as Shelley peered over their arms to read its contents:

I'M STILL WATCHING YOU

I HAVEN'T GONE AWAY

"Oh my God," Shelley croaked, looking up at Geri.

"Shelley, I didn't do this," she protested, her voice stronger now. "I came by to leave you a welcome-back note on your door, that's all."

Shelley looked down at Geri's hand, which held a note pad and black magic marker from the clinic. From what Shelley could tell, it was the same paper and marker used to write the message in Matt's hand. "I told you I wouldn't be home until eight."

"I know. That's why I came by now. I was driving by anyway to go to class, and I thought I'd just surprise you."

You did, thought Shelley. You definitely did. "What about the light I saw?"

Geri held up a pen light in her other hand. "I was just trying to see what I was doing. But when I got on the porch, this stuff was already here. So I was looking down at it to figure out what it was."

"Did you touch it?" Sergeant Rinaldi asked.

"The cow crap?" Geri asked bluntly, her feisty self returning. "Definitely not."

"The note," Matt clarified. "Did you touch that?"

"I started to, just to see what it was. But when I realized what it was sitting in, there was no way I was going to pull it out with my bare hands.

"Where's your car?" Shelley asked, suddenly realizing that her driveway had been empty when she first spotted the light from the road.

"I took my bike," Geri said, pointing to her yellow motorbike in front of the garage. Shelley had always admired Geri's combination of rebel and sweetness, which was epitomized by her slightly unconventional choice of transportation. But right now, Shelley couldn't help but wonder if she had misjudged Geri altogether. Still, there
had
to be some sort of explanation. But if there were, Sergeant Rinaldi wasn't buying it.

"Let me get this straight," he began, scratching his head. "You show up on Shelley's porch at a time when you weren't expecting her to be here. You just
happen
to have a dainty little flashlight with you to see your way around in the dark. And − now here's the coincidence I really like − you also just
happen
to be carrying the same kind of paper and marker that someone used to write a threatening note to Shelley." He paused, allowing silence to drive home his point. "But it wasn't
you
who did this."

Geri said nothing, as if resigned to her fate.  After all, how could she truly explain everything away, Shelley wondered. Herb had admitted to watching her through the bathroom window, but had vehemently denied making any threats. And yet, she still refused to believe that Geri could have been the one who was threatening her along.

"Is Herb out of jail?" Shelley asked, holding onto the hope that there could be some reasonable explanation for things.

Sergeant Rinaldi nodded his head. "He's still guarding his bar of soap as we speak."

Shelley looked back at Geri.

"Shelley, I know what it looks like, but I didn't do this."

"Dan," Shelley pleaded, "wait a second. This is crazy. I know Geri. She couldn't be the person behind all these threats."

"Can I talk to you over here for second?" he replied, gently ushering her over to the far end of the porch. "Shelley, you're like a daughter to me. And because of that, I'm going to lay it on the line with you like I would with one of my own kids.”

Shelley looked down at the ground, then back up at the sergeant. "Go ahead," she said gently, knowing that he only had her best interests in mind.

"I haven't been a cop in New York or Los Angeles or any of those other crazy, big cities, but I'll tell you something. Those cities might have their murders and their drug dealers and stuff  like that, but small towns like this – we have the even scarier cases."

Shelley raised an eyebrow. "We do?"

"Yup. We have the little Miss Maples who live in quaint little houses and are sweet to everyone in town, except for the three bodies buried in the back garden between the zucchini and the tomatoes. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Watch who I buy my vegetables from?" Shelley said in what she knew herself was a poor attempt to diffuse an unpleasant situation.

"Watch who you think is a normal, sane person. 'Cause you just never know. It's just better hidden in these small towns, that's what I'm saying."

"So you think Geri – who I've known for three years now – is crazy? You know, sometimes I even feel like a mother to her. She wants to be a veterinarian herself, and I've been advising her all along on what steps to take."

Sergeant Rinaldi reached over and patted Shelley's shoulder. "Do you have a reasonable explanation as to why she's on your porch holding paper and a marker that's identical to the paper and marker that was used to write out that message?"

Shelley shook her head. "No. No I don't. What are you going to do? Arrest her?"

He sighed. "I'd be neglecting my duty as a police officer if I didn't. I certainly have probable cause."

"What will happen to her? Will she be put in jail?"

"I'll see what I can do to get the bail really low so she'll only be kept long enough for someone to come by and pay the amount to get her out."

"Then what?"

"Then she'll get a court date. We'll get our evidence together, she can get a lawyer, and you probably know the rest."

Shelley looked over at Geri, who still seemed slightly dazed by what was happening. But no more so than Shelley was herself. "Deep down, Dan, I just don't feel right about this." But what if he was right? And quite honestly, thought Shelley, how could she deny that Geri was involved, when the evidence so clearly said otherwise? "If you do arrest her, please don't make it seem like I'm the one who's insisting you do this. Maybe she really is the person behind all this craziness, but I'm having a hard time accepting it."

Sergeant Rinaldi nodded. "I understand. The last thing I want to do is make things worse for you after what you've been through." He walked back over to Geri. "Miss Haskell, I'm afraid I'm going to have to place you under arrest based on the evidence we have here."

Geri said nothing, but turned to look at Shelley. "I want you to know," he added, "that I'm arresting you based on what
I've
found here, not on any request from Shelley."

Shelley stared at the ground as Sergeant Rinaldi rambled off the Miranda rights to Geri, then led her to his police car and placed her in the back seat.

Matt came over to her side, his face tense. "Are you okay?" 

"Not really. I just can't believe Geri did all this."

"You're probably still in shock. I don't blame you, really. To think that someone you've worked with for how long now?"

"Three years."

"To think that they could have it out for you enough to secretly threaten you. I just don't know. It's a crazy world we live in."

"I really thought it was Herb," Shelley said quietly.

"Well, it's not like he's completely innocent himself. But while you were talking to Sergeant Rinaldi, Officer Drummond told me that they checked Herb's phone records and weren't able to connect anything to the anonymous phone call you received last week. Of course, that doesn't prove he didn't make the call. He could have called from a phone booth or something, but it is one less piece of evidence to use against him as far as the other charges go."

Shelley nodded, resigning herself to the horrible truth. "I just don't know if I'm ever going to trust people the way I used to."

Matt reached over and ran his hand over Shelley's hair. "There are some people you can trust, you know."

She took his hand in her own and kissed it. "I know." Suddenly, she looked up. "Oh, my poor cats. They're still sitting in my cat carriers in the truck."

"Relax," Matt reassured. "It's not like they're going anywhere."

As Sergeant Rinaldi backed out of the driveway, followed by Officer Drummond, Shelley walked hand-in-hand with Matt up the long stretch of cobblestones to her truck. Tonight should have been a joyous occasion, she thought. She was moving back home, and with two of her six pets. The person who had been harassing her was safely locked up ... or so she thought. But in the span of an instant, all that changed. And now she was left wondering how her own judgments could be so skewed. How was it that she hadn't seen something strange or foreboding before? Geri had always seemed like such a nice person. Sure, she had boundless reserves of energy that kept her hopping when someone else would have dropped in her wake, but she was funny and sweet and
... dangerous??