CHAPTER FOUR
The first thing Alison noticed when she entered her home was the smell of chicken cacciatore.The last time she had spoken to Derek was when she was leaving the office to head home to eat and rest.He had spoken about coming over, but she could see the welcome deception now.He had arrived before her, and by the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen, dinner was almost ready.
"You have no idea how much I love you for this!"Alison called from the entranceway.
"Just wait until you taste it," he called back."I thought you could use some proper food instead of chucking something in the microwave when you got home."
Alison smiled.When she moved to the foothills of Oakland and had a robust security system installed in her home, including an alarm, security cameras, and a security gate, it was to prevent intruders.There was one person who was allowed to bypass her system and enter her home when she wasn’t there.
They had spent many nights at each other’s houses, and Alison was completely comfortable with Derek having a key to her house and codes to all the security and alarm systems.Her house was a safer place when he was in it.He was far better than any other security measures.
She kicked off her shoes, hung her jacket and bag in the closet, and followed the welcome smells through to the kitchen.
The kitchen table was still covered with case files, and none of them had been moved.Instead, the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living room had been set with plates and cutlery, along with a single candle.
Alison smiled as she stared at the breakfast island.She smiled more when Derek strode over and kissed her on the cheek, and then a little more when he handed her a glass of white wine.
"Sit down," he said softly."Dinner will only be a couple of minutes."
"I really don't know what I would do without you," Alison said.
"You would still have a wonderful life because you’re a wonderful person," Derek said."Still, I’d much prefer to be a part of your life than not."
"You are my life," Alison said."I mean, we are bothobviouslymarried to our work, and that helps with the understanding of having moments like this where we escape from murder and crime for a few hours to be together, but…I don't really know where I was going with that."Alison chuckled as she sat down."All that to say, I don't want to live my life without you."
"That’s a two-way street," Derek told her."My life is far better with you, even if I do worry about you some of the time."
"I know," Aliso said softly, looking down at her glass of wine and pursing her lips."I want to say something about it coming with the territory, but it really shouldn’t, should it?"
"I wish it didn’t," Derek admitted.He opened the oven, and a large puff of steam escaped and dissipated.He pulled out the tray of chicken and placed it atop the stove."I do understand, though.I wish I could wrap you up in cotton wool and protect you from the world, but the world is a far better place with you out there facing the danger."
"Then maybe we were brought together so you can protect me," Alison noted.
Derek turned and grabbed the plates from the breakfast bar to plate up the food."I was thinking about the universe today and how it seems like it’s working against us.I mean, I don't believe in any of that, but is this just weird timing, is it something bigger than both of us, or is there something else going on that we can't see?"
"What do you mean?"Alison asked.
Derek plated up the chicken, added some vegetables and potatoes, and brought the food back to the breakfast bar.He sat down opposite Alison, but before he answered her question, he lifted his glass and gently clinked it against hers before drinking.
"It’s moments like these that tell me it’s all worth it," he said before taking another sip and placing the wine glass down."To go back to your question, when we heard about the Katrina Sands murder, we would immediately assume that there could be a connection, and you would want to investigate the case, but you couldn’t because you were already in Reno.We both were."
"Mmm," Alison responded, both to what he was saying and in response to how delicious his chicken was.
"Then, as soon as you are back in Oakland, working on your sister’s case again, another case comes up.Both of them, the one in Reno and now this one, are connected to you in some way.You were drawn to Reno because of a document with your signature on it left beside a dead body, and then, there’s an entire report critiquing one of your evaluations from five years ago.It’s funny timing."
Alison chewed and swallowed some chicken before she responded."You think someone might be orchestrating all of this to keep me away from my sister’s case?"
"No, I don't think that."Derek speared a piece of carrot with his fork, lifted it from his plate, and held it in the air, not yet eating it."If someone wanted to keep you from investigating the case from twenty years ago, they could easily do that in some other way.Even if they thought you were finally getting close, it doesn’t make sense to orchestrate a serial killer in Reno, who had the motivation to attack you, and then have a dead body waiting for you on your return with a critique of your methods.If someone with enough power to do all of that wanted to stop you from looking into the case, there are far easier ways.I’m only saying that it’s odd timing and a bad coincidence."
"It’s bad timing," Alison agreed."I wish there were no case to work on right now, and I could work on the other case with you.He lived an evil life for most of it, but from what I know of him and everything I’ve heard and read today, I think he was one of the good ones now, making the world a better place.He didn't deserve to die."
"What do you make of his death?"Derek asked."Do you have any leads?"
"Nothing yet," Alison admitted."I don't know if it’s my personal bias after what happened in Reno, but I can't help but jump to the conclusion that this is about me again.If it’s not about me, then it has to be about Thomas.Any investigation into him has shown that he’s turned his life around.It would be odd for someone to wait so long to target him unless he was caught back up in that world."
"What about the early release program in general?"Derek asked as he took a mouthful of potato.He swallowed before adding, "It could be that someone was unhappy about Thomas being released early after all that he had done, and it was solely a coincidence that you were involved in that.Or someone released from prison recently?"
"We looked into that, and still are," Alison admitted."The guy he almost killed in prison was released before Thomas, and he passed last year from cancer.Perhaps there’s a gang member who was recently released, but we haven’t found them yet.Which brings it back to someone targeting me."
