Later, when Lainie had read about Daphne’s mother, her heart broke for the woman. A picture popped into her mind of Daphne’s mother at the funeral. Losing her daughter had destroyed her. Two months later she had a stroke and died. In Lainie’s eyes, Vine was responsible for both deaths.
She wanted so badly to put the killer behind bars. She’d learned so much since then. How she wished she could apply her knowledge to arresting that man and making it stick. Today it seemed as if she’d been given another chance.
And Ben Isaacs had stopped her.
Frustration twisted her gut into knots, and for some reason Lainie thought about texting Glen. He was a man she’d flirted with in the past, dancing up to the line but not crossing it because he was married. It was such a non sequitur she let out a burst of nervous laughter. The only good thing about Glen was that he would let her vent. He was good at listening. No matter how bad things got, there was no excuse to call Glen.
She fiddled with her phone and saw that her sister, Evie, had called earlier. She hadn’t left a voicemail.
Groaning, Lainie put the phone down. The last thing she needed tonight was a lecture from her sister about how Lainie should be back in church.
Evie was the oldest and the perfect child. She led worship at church, had a voice like an angel. Their brother Archie was the youngest, and while he’d struggled in high school, he’d eventually found his path as a youth pastor and was now on track to get a master’s degree in theology.
Lainie was the middle child and now a decorated violent crimes investigator. While her siblings embraced church life, she’d become a Chreaster, a person who only attended church at Christmas and Easter. Lainie liked to tell people that she’d flown under the radar all her life. Evie got all the accolades and Archie got all the lectures. Nothing was left for Lainie.
She got ready for bed as the oppressive feeling of guilt settled down on her like a shade. Lainie had been raised in the church. When she was a new officer, she’d stayed involved with her fellowship. She’d taught Sunday school, attended prayer meetings and a Bible study for police officers.
The incident with Vine infected Lainie with a bitterness that ate at her soul. Cynicism colored everything. Christian activities seemed less important, useless even. She had been content to use work as an excuse to avoid church and Bible study. Her schedule would change, and she’d drop out, try to find something else, then her schedule would change again. She gave up trying to find the time to attend church activities and, finally, gave up regular attendance as well.
Police work was important, and even more so because of the memory of Jaycee, Lainie knew that she’d need to clean up her act if she ever wanted to move to homicide. Because homicide handled kidnappings. She needed to be dedicated to police work, and she had been. Two years in a row she’d been named investigator of the year by the California Peace Officers’ Association. Training to be the best cop became her church. She was a master at weaponless defense and a marksman who’d won several statewide shooting competitions.
Lainie wanted her work to shine so when an opening came up in homicide, the spot would be hers and nothing in her past would keep her from it.
She’d eventually put her cuffs on him again and it would stick.
No one was bulletproof.
CHAPTER 4
“I really need to shoot something,” Lainie spoke to Mike as they headed for their car.
“Have anything in mind?” Mike asked.
“Right now, I’m not particular.”
He laughed. “Good thing we’re due at the range.”
The morning had been busy with court; now they were scheduled for the range. The department required all officers to qualify with their duty weapon four times a year. While some officers saw the qualification as an interruption, Lainie loved going to the range for any reason. A member of the PD pistol team, she was classified a sharpshooter—a 100 percenter.
Shooting helped center her thoughts and shut out stress or issues that bothered her.
“Hey, Lainie, Mike, how are you guys doing?” The rangemaster greeted them when they stepped inside the range office.
“Happy to be here today,” Lainie said as she prepared her target.
She and Mike were the only two officers at the range to qualify, so after their targets were ready, they stepped up to the firing line. Officers qualified with handguns through a fifty-round course of fire, starting from the twenty-five-yard line, moving to the fifteen-yard line, then the seven-yard line, and finishing at the five-yard line. Each stage was timed.They used a two-handed grip except at the fifteen-yard line, where they switched to one-handed shooting, first with the strong hand and then with the weak hand. A score of 80 percent was mandatory.
Lainie hadn’t shot below 100 percent in five years. Mike was usually between 85 and 95 percent. When they finished the handgun course, they moved to the other side of the range where a handgun/shotgun course was set up. This was Lainie’s favorite. The course configuration changed every other quarter.
Today the emergency simulation was set up with a parked black-and-white patrol car at the start. Officers began the course seated in the vehicle. When time started, they had to unlock the shotgun, get out of the car, fire four shotgun rounds at metal targets, set the shotgun down, draw their handguns, and hurry through the course, using cover when it was provided, then fire at fifteen more targets, some of them moving.
Being timed bothered some people; Lainie knew that Sara didn’t like it. But Lainie loved the challenge and theplinksound when bullets struck the metal targets. The instant feedback when she hit every target was very gratifying. Again, she aced the course.
“Great job as usual, Lainie,” the rangemaster said. “She sure is carrying you there, Mike.”
Mike laughed. “Don’t I know it.”
Lainie felt better after qualifying, but she forgot to call Evie back. It wasn’t until the weekend that her first Saturday off in months rolled around that she remembered. Lainie slept in, not rising until nearly noon. Evie came to mind while she was in the shower. Head under the shower steam, water as hot as she could stand it, Lainie tried to think. Why would Evie call except to ask her to some church thing?
