The Next Generation: The Legacy (Book 3)

Chapter 13 - Cat makes her first move.

Chante

I could see he instantly regretted offering. There was no way I would live in the same house as my T.O! With my mother, nope! That was not happening! It would be far worse than the academy! One would be telling me to stand up straight while the other one raised a brow at how I wore my sweatpants. Nope, thanks. Didn’t need that.

I would find a place that was suitable for both me and my mom. Thankfully, the awkward moment was quickly replaced by a call. As we pulled up outside a house, we both went into careful overdrive. We walked up the porch and I scanned our surroundings while Officer Campbell knocked on the door. We had to do a welfare check for a woman whose mother hadn’t been answering any calls. An elderly woman answered the door and I had to stifle my laughter while he shouted louder and louder.

“MRS. Weatherby. Your daughter called us to check in on you!” He shouted, and I had to turn around to hide my laughter.

“WHAT? Wait. I need my hearing aids!” The old woman, still dressed in her gown, turned around and disappeared into the house while mumbling. She turned around and shouted for us to come in, and we carefully walked into exactly what I was expecting. The house smelled of old people, and crochet covered nearly every surface in every off-white colour you could imagine.

“What did you say, sonny?” She returned from the back fidgeting with her hearing aid in her ear.

“I’m officer Campbell, and this is officer Simmons, ma’am. Your daughter sent us to check on you. She’s been trying to reach you, but you haven’t answered the phone.” He explained without shouting, and she nodded, seemingly very impatient.

“Now, where did I?” She tapped her chin with her index finger and disappeared into her open-plan kitchen. She pulled open the drawers one at a time and I could see they were filled to the brim with every possible thing you could think of. “Oh! Here it is. She always calls me about this thing, but I don’t like it. It’s so much work! I have to constantly charge it, and then I can’t find the silly charger thing. She should call me on the landline. That one doesn’t need to be charged.” She pulled out a cell phone from one of the drawers and as Campbell looked at it, I noticed the battery was completely dead.

“Ma’am, she said she tried your landline.” He sighed slightly, and I had to admit that I was impressed with his patience with the old woman.

“Oh?” The old woman frowned and walked down the passage. There was a little bench right in the middle of it with a small table. She picked up the very old phone and tapped something on it. “The line seems to be fine, but I don’t always hear it without my hearing aids. You can tell her to call me now. I will wait for her call, but she shouldn’t take all day. I still have to do my hair.” Campbell nodded and called them into the station. We hung around for a couple of minutes just to check that she really was okay before leaving. I giggled as we climbed back into the car, and he frowned at me.

“That could have turned out very different, you know?” He sighed and pulled out into the road.

“But it didn’t!” I squealed with laughter, and he smiled, laughing with me after a couple of moments. It felt excellent to just laugh about something funny for a change. The job was so intense all the time! The rest of our shift consisted of checking out some of the tips that the station received. By the time our shift ended, I was sighing deeply and ready to get home when Campbell pulled me aside.

“Don’t let your guard down. Just because we are done for the day, doesn’t mean that Cat is. Be careful when you go home.” He frowned, and although I appreciated his concern, I didn’t think it was necessary.

“I will be careful.” I nodded and made my way out of the station.

Freddie

I had no idea why I felt so protective over the girl. It wasn’t like I owed her anything. Okay, she was my rookie, but her father … I rolled my eyes as I watched her walk out of the station. Cat escaping was messing with my head! I checked in with the task team on my way out, and they were nowhere near finding her. I offered to help, but Christa sent me home.

The moment I walked into my house I could feel it. Something was off. Everything was still in its place, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was sure Cat had been there. I didn’t have evidence, and I was sure that if they fingerprinted the place, they wouldn’t find anything, but I just knew. I scanned the place and couldn’t see anything and finally decided that my mind must be playing tricks on me.

Nothing was out of place. Taking a deep breath, I put my stuff down and checked my bedroom just in case, but everything was fine. Besides, how could she possibly know where I live now? After convincing myself that my gut was out of whack, I took a shower. After my shower, I made some dinner and sat down on the couch to eat while I caught up on some television. It had been a long day, and I was incredibly tired, so I cleaned up and went to bed.

I had just closed my eyes when it hit me and I jumped out of bed and rushed to the living room. It was gone! The picture of the three of us was no longer on the shelf! How didn’t I see that the moment I walked in?! I searched the entire house, turning everything upside down and inside out and the picture was gone. My gut was right! It had to have been Cat! I couldn’t remember taking it off the shelf, and it was so her!

She would do something like that just to throw me off my damn game or to use what she took as evidence that I committed some damn crime! I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and ten minutes later the first unit arrived. I knew they wouldn’t find anything, but I still wanted them to check.