Patchwork Connections by Carol Dean Jones

Author:Carol Dean Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: C&T Publishing

Chapter 20

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Martha had picked up the phone without looking at the caller ID, something she rarely did. “Who is this?” she demanded.

“You know perfectly well who this is! The police were here yesterday questioning me about ‘lurking around your house’ as they put it. What’s the meaning of this?” She realized it was Derek. His voice intensified until he was practically screaming into the phone. “You flirt with me shamelessly, you humiliate me in public, you ignore my letter, and now you lie about me to the police. What are you trying to do to me?”

Martha struggled for the right response. If Derek wasn’t the stalker, she owed him some sort of explanation. If he were the stalker, she would be playing right into his hands by becoming defensive. She didn’t speak.

“Martha!” he snarled angrily.

“Derek, if you want to discuss this with me, call Officer Holmes at the police station and arrange a time for the three of us to sit down and talk.”

Derek slammed the phone down. Martha picked up Officer Holmes’ card and dialed her number.

“Holmes,” the officer answered.

“Officer Holmes, this is Martha Miller. You were at my house last week. …”

“Yes, I remember. How can I help you?”

Martha told the police officer about her call from Derek Kettler and her suggestion about meeting at the police station. “Well,” Officer Holmes responded, “that would be unusual, but I’m willing to do it. Generally, these kinds of meetings would be with your lawyer rather than the police department.”

“I don’t have a lawyer and don’t think I need one. I just thought …”

“It’s fine, Ms. Miller. I’m willing to meet with him, but I doubt that he’ll ever call. If he’s your stalker, it’s unlikely that he would walk into the police station.”

Martha had no sooner hung up the phone that it rang again. This time she checked the caller ID and was pleased to see Sophie Ward’s number displayed. She and Tim had been out to dinner several times since his arrival and were planning to go to the movie and dinner on Friday. “Hello,” she answered cheerfully, setting her concerns about Derek aside.

“Hi, Martha. This is Tim Ward.”

“It’s good to hear from you, Tim.” They chatted for a few minutes before he got to the point of his call.

“So,” Tim said, “I was wondering if we could skip the movie next Friday and drive up to Hamilton instead? There’s a new club up there with dinner and dancing and …”

“That sounds wonderful,” she responded enthusiastically. “I haven’t been dancing since …” She couldn’t finish the sentence because she realized she had never been dancing!

“I’ll have to warn you,” Tim confessed, “there’s not much dancing going on along the Alaska pipeline. Wear shoes with protective armor!” They laughed and agreed they would both have challenges to overcome on the dance floor.

They chatted for a few minutes about what they had been doing when Tim said, “By the way, I just got off the phone with my boss up in Valdez.

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