She directed Will to Kennedy Middle School. He waited in the car while Jen went inside and asked to speak to the assistant principal, Leda McIntosh. Leda was in her late fifties and had been Jen’s high school history teacher in both her sophomore and junior years.
Leda paled when Jen told her what had happened.
“Oh, Jennifer, thank God you’re all right!” Leda’s hand went to her throat, a feminine, old-fashioned habit of hers when she was upset. Leda had always seemed to Jen to be of an earlier generation than she actually was, a throwback to a time of gentler manners. “Of course, you’ll want to talk to Brandon. I’ll get him. Good heavens, Jennifer, I wish you’d get out of that filthy business!”
And that’s another thing, Jen thought, that makes Leda seem to be of an earlier generation. She seemed to come from a time of gender stereotypes, and women carrying a badge and a gun didn’t fit with her personal world picture. She and Ada had a lot in common even though they were decades apart in age.
“It wouldn’t make the ugliness go away, Leda. It wouldn’t even protect me from it.”
“I know, I know. I just don’t like it. You have a good mind, and you’re fouling it with the garbage of this world. I just don’t understand why.”
Leda turned without giving Jen a chance to answer. Jen took a seat on a straight-back chair, listening to the drone of teachers’ voices in the distance and smelling the familiar school smells of chalk and new books. She felt peaceful and safe, the way she had when Will held her at the apartment while she cried. After a while, she began to feel drowsy. Her eyes were just starting to shut when she heard the click of two sets of heels coming down the hall toward her.
“Mom, what is it? Is something wrong?”
She took Brandon into Leda’s office and told him. He knew Trish from having met her at the department, and he had once told Jen how pretty he thought Trish was and how she looked like Wonder Woman except for being blonde. Now Wonder Woman was dead, and Brandon was scared.
“He must have seen you last night, too.” Tears welled in his eyes, but he blinked them away. “He could have killed you.”
“No, honey, no, I don’t think so.” Jen smoothed back a loose strand of his hair. “First of all, we can’t be positive that he followed us. He may have been waiting for Trish when she got home. But even if he did follow us and saw me, he wouldn’t come after me because you’re there. All of his victims have lived alone, and I’ve got you.”
“I’m never leaving you alone!” He thrust his chin out, a determined look on his face even though his eyes showed he was still frightened. “I’ll tell Matt I’m not going to the lake this weekend.”
“I don’t want you to do that.” Jen hugged him hard. Lately, he’d been pulling away when she hugged him, embarrassed that she was treating him like a child, but this time he clung to her, and she had to be the one to break the embrace. “I want you to go with your friend and have a good time.”
“But, Mom…”
“Honey, those other women lived alone all the time, not just for one night or one weekend. I think he looks for someone who’s alone all the time.”
Brandon didn’t look convinced. Then he appeared to have an idea.
“Maybe you could ask Will to stay with you,” he said. “That way you wouldn’t be by yourself.”
Not a bad idea, Jen thought, feeling herself start to blush.
“You like him, don’t you?” she said.
“I sure do. It’s about time you started seeing a real man.”
“What?” Jen couldn’t believe her ears. Her thirteen-year-old son had just made father noises at her.
“He’s a real man,” Brandon insisted. “Not like some of those other turkeys you’ve gone out with.”
She smiled at his earnest expression while thinking how right he was.
“I’m glad you like Will,” she said. “Maybe I will ask him to do guard duty while you’re gone. Not that I need it, understand?”
He nodded, grinning, but he looked relieved. She stayed with him a little longer until she was sure he was okay. When she went outside, Will was leaning against the passenger side of the car. He opened the door for her.
“How’d it go?”
“Okay. Thank God he hadn’t heard anything yet.”
Will got in the driver’s side. Jen waited until he’d started the car and pulled into traffic.
“My son is quite taken with you,” she said.
Will glanced at her, smiling. “Is that right?”
She nodded. “In his words, you’re a real man.”
Will laughed, obviously pleased at the compliment.
“He’s going to the lake tonight with one of his friends and his family. He’ll be gone all weekend.” Jen took a deep breath. “He suggested that I ask you to stay with me to keep me safe.”
“Brandon comes up with some great ideas.” The corners of Will’s mouth curled up in that maddeningly sexy way of his that Jen found so appealing. “What did you think of his suggestion?”
For a second or two, Jen didn’t say anything. Then she smiled.
“I think it’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”
Will looked at her, his eyes filled with happiness and desire. Then he looked back at the road, still smiling.
“So do I,” he said. “So do I.”
Jen settled back against the seat, the anticipation of the weekend ahead tempering the misery and horror she felt over Trish. Deep down, she knew she’d been leading up to this decision about Will even before her friend’s death, but seeing Trish’s battered body this morning had finalized it. Life was so incredibly fragile. She, of all people, should know that. Instead, she’d been denying herself happiness and pleasure, worrying too much about the future and ignoring the possibilities of the
