Time, Death & Scar Tissue...

14. Investigation and Inspiration

There were things about the clothing he chose for her that didn't surprise Kathryn at all, like the fact that it was all very good quality. It was much better than she would have chosen for herself for an ordinary day. The colors suited her perfectly, but even in the short time she had known him it was obvious that he had exceptional taste for a man. What she found surprising was that everything fit perfectly. Her height and slim frame meant that even in specialty shops sleeves were too long, waistlines fell around her hips and ‘small’ was baggy. Either he was very skilled at choosing women's clothing or he had gotten very lucky. Even the matching bra and panties fit perfectly. Once she emerged from dressing he looked at her appraisingly for a moment and then nodded approval. Kathryn couldn't help but blush.

She thought about asking how long he had had these things, but decided against it. They were obviously all new so she didn’t think they had belonged to someone else who left quickly. There was a part of her was curious how long he had been preparing for her to spend the night, but another part decided that she would be more content thinking of the night before as happy coincidence, not a planned conquest.

When the car arrived at her house Kathryn found an unfamiliar vehicle in her driveway and a man searching around on her porch. She was out of the car as soon as it stopped, not bothering to wait for the driver.

“Just what the hell do you think you're doing?” Kathryn said to the man on her porch. She could hear the driver hurrying after her, but she ignored him.

“Now hold on a minute, Miss. I'm a cop.” The way he said it, it sounded as if it should explain everything.

“I'm Kathryn Paige and I happen to own this house, so I'll go back to my original question. What the hell are you doing?” Kathryn placed herself between him and the door, her arms were crossed and she fixed him with a cold stare. The man looked from her to the driver, who was holding a cell phone. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, renewing her feeling of weakness from earlier, but she wasn’t about to waiver in front of him.

“Look, I'm Detective Bronte, maybe we could go inside and-”

“Oh I don't think so, not unless you have a warrant.” Kathryn noticed how rumpled-looking he was and how the exchange seemed to be taxing him. That didn’t make her want to back down either.

“Miss, this is unofficial.”

“Oh that's comforting. The police are allowed to enter your home without a warrant as long as it's unofficial. You were obviously looking for a key, if you didn't find one were you going to break in?”

“Miss Paige, please.” The man looked tired now. “Corrina James said you might be in trouble. She couldn't file a report because you haven't been missing for seventy-two hours so I said I would check on you to put her mind at ease.” Kathryn studied him for a moment. The porchlight was harsh and unforgiving, but she could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes and the drawn look about him.

“I wasn't missing, she was overreacting. Corey's a friend of yours as well I take it.” Kathryn's voice had softened a bit.

“You might say that.” He looked a little embarrassed. “She was worried and I know it's not strictly kosher but she said you kept a key around here somewhere.”

“Well, as you can see I'm fine, and I'll be calling Corey.” She relaxed her posture a little.

“Right, well have a good night Miss Paige.” He smiled a little and turned to go.

“I'm sure your wife didn't appreciate you running around with Corey.” Kathryn felt the mean little smile tug at the corners of her mouth. He turned again and looked as if someone had struck him. “Don't look so shocked. Taken together, the way you reacted when I mentioned your relationship with Corey, the tan line where a wedding band was until very recently and the fact that you look like you slept in those clothes, the picture was obvious really. I hope you have a better poker face with your suspects.”

“She didn't know. Corey I mean.” She could see that he wanted to explain.

“You don't need to justify yourself to me. What you do with another consenting adult is none of my business. Drive safely.” She smiled sweetly and watched him get in his car before picking up the newspaper and getting the key from its hiding place under the porch swing.

“Come on inside.” She said to the driver. “It's too cold to sit out here.”

He followed a bit reluctantly, still holding his cell phone. She let him into the kitchen and set the paper on the table.

“Coffee?” She asked.

“I'm not sure if Mr. LaCroix would want me to even be in here. I know he wouldn't want me to have coffee with you.” She could tell he was nervous. “I should call him about that cop too.”

“Oh don't bother him with that now, the whole thing is over. I'll tell him about it later tonight. And you wouldn't be having coffee with me; I've got a few things to do. I thought you might like something while you wait.” She took a mug and the coffee out of the cupboard and put fresh water in the machine. “If you change your mind, it's one of those one-cup machines so the packet goes in the top and just press the button. Milk is in the fridge; sugar is on the table, and feel free to read the paper.”

“Thank you.” He still looked nervous, but at least he sat down and started scanning the front page. Kathryn went upstairs to make her calls, that way she could lay down for a few minutes before getting some things together, just in case she decided to stay.

The conversation with her father went well until he started talking about Thanksgiving.

“I just hired a young man that I'd love for you to meet when you get here. You know the Hydes?” Kathryn felt she was being led into the trap.

“You mean that awful little man who always smells like cheap cigars and his mountainous wife?” She had always thought they were an aptly named pair.

“Well that isn't a very nice way to say it, but yes. They're really a very fine old family. It's their son Arnold, and he would just love to meet you.”

“I'm sure that he would but I have to be honest, I'm really not interested in meeting anyone else right now.” Kathryn wasn't even sure she wanted to go home for the holiday this year, but she would see where she got on this point.

“Oh? You said that man you were seeing was just a casual thing.” She heard the contrivance in his voice clearly.

“It is Daddy, but I don't know if it's going to stay casual and frankly what chance is there of anything happening with Arnold Hyde when he's in Boston and I'm in Chicago?” Her mind was racing. She was going to end up on yet another bad date if she didn't figure something out fast.

“Well there would be a good chance if you moved back here. You know you can write from anywhere and that way you could concentrate on finding the right man to settle down with. Not some older man who runs a nightclub so he can meet impressionable young girls.” He was using his 'cajoling the witness' voice.

“Daddy, I'm not twelve anymore and Lucien has been nothing but a gentleman ever since I first met him. If it will make you happy though I'll have dinner with Arnold when I come home, but I am not moving anywhere in the near future.” She was trying desperately to maintain the cover of a casual relationship while protecting the privacy of the actual relationship that was forming. Her father was not making it easy though.

“Corey said he-”

“You told me once that if Corey said the sun would come up tomorrow you wouldn't believe her until you saw it. Now she tells you some nonsense about someone she doesn't really like and you sound like it's the Gospel truth.” She was getting flustered and that was never good. She took a deep breath and tried to get hold of herself.

“Katie, you're my only daughter and my only natural child, when I hear that you're with someone controlling I worry, no matter who it comes from.” Kathryn hated it when he called her 'Katie', but she had never had the heart to tell him. As for the rest, she had to have some kind of an answer. She took a deep breath.

“Daddy I don't know why she thinks that. But don't you think you're going a little overboard about someone I've been to the theater with a few times?” Kathryn knew her voice sounded perfectly reasonable, even if her mind was still spinning.

“She says you've started writing there.” Kathryn rolled her eyes.

“He collects rare books. I have access to texts there I've only seen referenced other places. Besides he's not anywhere near me when I'm working. I might see him for twenty minutes on one of those evenings.” Kathryn really hated lying to him, but at this point he sounded one step away from hiring a Private Investigator if he hadn't already. He was silent longer than she expected.

“Corey didn't mention the books.” He said finally.

“Of course she didn’t. She asks me questions about him and doesn't bother to listen to the answers. She's just set on the idea that there's something wrong with him and she doesn't want to be confused by the facts.” Kathryn sighed softly. “I said I would go out with Arnold and I will, but I'm not going to keep defending Lucien when he hasn't done anything wrong and neither have I. It's exhausting.”

“I'll let Arnold know that he has a date with you.” Kathryn held her head in her hand and wondered how she was going to tell Lucien. He was a grown man; he should be able to deal with the idea that she could have a bad dinner with someone else to keep peace. Something told her that he wasn't going to be happy though.

“Alright Daddy. I'll call you later in the week when I arrange my flights.” It was all she could say.

“Alright. Love you lots Katie-girl.”

“Love you lots too Daddy.”

She ended the call and took a few deep breaths before calling Corey. After establishing that she was alive and did not appreciate having someone try to break into the house she got to the question she really wanted to ask.

“What exactly makes you dislike him so much?”

“He's a snob, he's rude and don't you think it's kind of weird that he's so possessive when he hardly knows you?” Kathryn found herself listening to the background noise and trying to work out where Corey was.

“I think you're being a little possessive yourself. You push me to meet someone for years and now that I have you're upset.” There was a metallic sounding announcement and she realized Corey was in the grocery store. She got her backpack from the closet and tossed in some clothes for class and a change of clothes for after.

“It's not that, you're just spending a lot of time with this guy. Way more than normal. I mean, what did you do all night?” Kathryn looked at the old t-shirts she usually slept in and debated whether or not to take one. They seemed out of place in the middle of all that silk.

“I worked part of that time. If you had bothered to listen to anything I've told you instead of making assumptions you would know that he has an amazing collection of books. Part of the time we slept. The rest of the time isn't worth mentioning really.” Kathryn couldn’t help smiling when she said it. Finally she remembered the burgundy silk nightgown she had bought on a whim. She still wasn't sure if she would stay, but she tossed it in the bag anyway.

“Wait a minute, wait wait wait. Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?” She could hear Corey putting her groceries on the belt at the register and something in a can sounded like it fell.

“Well, I suppose that depends on what you're thinking.” Kathryn went into her office and sat down at the computer. Corey had made fun of her when she bought the laptop and kept her desktop, but to her it made perfect sense. Sometimes she needed the quiet of her office, sometimes she needed and wanted to be mobile. She made her travel arrangements online quickly, before she could come up with some excuse not go.

“That you finally did it!” Corey wasn't really yelling, but Kathryn could just imagine people turning to stare. “You have to tell me everything, every last detail. You know what this means, right?”

“Not so loud!” Kathryn's cheeks were crimson. She grabbed her printed confirmation and the notebook that contained Paul's life. Sometimes reading through the incidents he had seen and places he had been inspired her. “And what does it mean?”

“Now you can break up with him.” The scanner was beeping and Corey sounded downright gleeful.

“Corey, that makes no sense. You're going to dance class tomorrow night, right?” She held the phone between her head and her shoulder and put a few toiletries in the side pouch of the bag and closed the whole thing.

“Well yeah! Are you allowed to go?” The sarcasm was evident.

“Snarky this evening, aren't we?” Kathryn sat on her bed and wondered what else she might need.

“Well I wouldn't want you to get grounded.” She said sweetly.

“Gee I remember a guy who wanted you to wear a dog collar and leash, and you DID. And what did I say about that? Nothing.” She replied as sweetly.

“That was different, he was a professional.” Corey said quickly. Kathryn heard the automatic doors and the sounds of the parking lot.

“A professional WHAT, exactly?” Kathryn asked.

“I can't explain it all now.” For a change she heard Corey squirming.

“Then explain it over dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh you get to eat too?” Kathryn heard the thud of the trunk closing.

“I'll live dangerously and break curfew, like I have for almost three weeks now.” She shook her head. “Oh, and I'm going out again tonight. Promise you won't call the FBI.”

“Ha. Ha. You're a laugh riot. See you tomorrow night Kat.”

“Bye Corey.” She ended the call and trotted down the stairs. She found the driver sitting with an empty cup of coffee and an open newspaper.

“Would you mind if I stopped for Chinese food on the way back?” He took her backpack and she put his cup in the dishwasher.

“Not at all, just tell me what restaurant.” Kathryn made a quick call and stopped at the neighbor's house. By the time they got to the Apple Jade the food was ready.

Kathryn couldn't explain why she was so ravenous, but she was barely able to wait until she was in the small kitchen again. Less than a minute after getting inside she was devouring Kung Pao Chicken and Shrimp and pork fried rice. She ate quickly, washed the plate and utensils and then went to work.

The idea had struck her in the restaurant. There had been a large church group inside and she couldn’t help but overhear the pastor telling the assembled company that the signs of the end times were everywhere and the Rapture couldn't be far off. Kathryn found the idea of the Rapture strange, but the more she thought about it the more the little part of her that was Paul seemed taken with it. She put her ear buds in her ears, turned on Mahler, opened a new document and let him start speaking.

**On its surface, faith, like blood, appears to be a simple thing. We all know blood to be the thick, red liquid that pulses through the body. It nourishes us in a myriad of ways. It issues forth from wounds and eventually seals them. It is the one physical element that binds all races of men together, we all bleed. An excess of blood and one becomes caught up in a happy lethargy. Too little and mortal life ends.

Faith is the substance that occupies the arteries of the soul. It provides its own ephemeral nourishment to the far corners of the spirit. It issues forth from psychic wounds, easing the pain when they are fresh and eventually healing them. It is the one metaphysical element that binds all races of men together, we all believe in something. Too much faith and the mortal body is neglected and abused in the pursuit of something higher. Too little and the soul dies, leaving the body an empty shell given to hedonistic excesses.

However, if one looks closely at either faith or blood one finds a world of complexities. But, I wax philosophical in my later centuries. Let me begin by relating the story of how I came to be considering such deeply convoluted terrain in the first place.**

Kathryn smiled and her fingers flew over the keys.

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LaCroix caught her scent as soon as he opened the door. His desire for her was intense, for her company, for her body, and for her blood. Tonight though, he would settle for her company and closeness. He had more than satisfied his hunger earlier, though the wonderful richness of her flavor was missing, the purpose was served. As for her body, that was still healing and he intended to let her have the time she needed. Her shoulder and wrist concerned him most. In his isolation and passion he had forgotten the fragility of mortals. When she recoiled from him earlier in the evening he wondered if her mind hadn't accepted his suggestions and in truth her acceptance was imperfect. He had considered trying again, but decided against it. She didn't see the scabbed wounds, and she had fit the bruise into a familiar schema. The intent of the suggestion was intact.

He was surprised that she didn't acknowledge him when he came in, but then he noticed the ear buds. He listened closely and when heard Mahler a small smile touched his lips. She was wearing glasses but her eyes were half-closed, as if she was daydreaming. The soft, rapid clicking of the keys surprised him slightly. He had expected that she would type quickly, but her speed was impressive. He moved closer and sat down silently, his hearing tuned to the music she was listening to. He decided to wait until she was finished.

As he watched he got a new understanding of her writing. It was more than the detailed research or her connection to the history she used. It was more than the way she looked at the modern world through the eyes of an observer rather than a participant. There was a visceral intensity that came through her onto the page and seeing her now it was easy to imagine her channeling someone else's words through her fingers.

She pulled down the high collar of the mock turtleneck and rubbed absently at the wound while the other hand skimmed the keys. Her breathing had shifted, her breaths coming faster. He could see her biting the corner of her lip, her teeth nearly drawing blood. He watched her mouth and saw the pressure ease. Her hands slowed and the music stopped. She took off the glasses and rubbed her eyes, the tugged the ear buds free. He realized he had been watching her for nearly two hours.

When she finally realized he was there her shocked gasp brought a small smile to his face.