Rainey Nights Read online

  Rainey leaned on the door jam. “You’re beautiful.”

  Katie brushed past Rainey, pecking her on the cheek. “Thank you, darlin’.”

  They made it to the front door without further delay. Rainey swiped her finger on the biometric pad of the gun safe. Katie insisted Rainey install the safe after she moved in. The door popped open. She liked the ease of the fingerprint lock, but in case the biometrics failed it had back-up keypad access, and a battery for power loss. Katie’s prints were stored there, too. Should Katie need a weapon, more than enough surrounded her, and Rainey was making sure she could use them all.

  Katie didn’t like to see the guns around the house, though she knew they were there and why. Rainey kept the weapons in the bedroom in a new larger gun vault built into the wall, but they were within arm’s reach and one finger swipe from being in her hands. Katie said the guns were a daily reminder of the danger Rainey believed they were in. Katie liked to think if she didn’t acknowledge the threat it would go away. Rainey knew different, but agreed to put the weapons in the safes. Rainey secretly kept a small pistol hidden in a secret compartment in the bookcase. Old habits were hard to break.

  Removing her Glock 19 and holstering it, Rainey closed the safe door. She covered the offending weapon with a lightweight black jacket she pulled from the coat rack, by the door. Once they were ready to leave, Katie leaned up attempting to kiss Rainey on the lips.

  “No you don’t,” Rainey said, pulling back. “You’re going to kiss me and smear lipstick all over me.”

  Katie grinned. “Come here, I’ll be gentle.” She rose on her toes and pecked Rainey lightly on the lips. Stepping back she looked at Rainey’s mouth and ran her thumb across Rainey’s lips. “See, no harm done.”

  Rainey hugged her and then opened the door. She let Katie out first and then set the alarm. Freddie Krueger, stalker of all things small, Rainey’s bobbed-tail black cat was waiting to escort them down the cottage steps. He left the cottage every morning at sunrise to hunt and terrorize local wildlife. He returned about this time each day to walk Rainey to the office, before entering the cottage through his doggie door for a snack and a nap.

  At the bottom of the stairs, Rainey parted from Katie. Walking backwards toward the office, she said, “Call me when you’re done with your appointment.”

  Katie waved. “I will. And hey… I wouldn’t worry so much about the lipstick on your mouth, but I’m sure Ernie’s going to love that full set of lips on your cheek.”

  Rainey’s hand shot to her face. She rubbed the spot where Katie had kissed her cheek and then looked at her hand. A smudge of pink glistened faintly on her fingers. “Damn, you did it again,” she said, but she was laughing.

  Katie opened her car door. “See you later. Be safe.”

  Rainey smiled and waved to her, giving her standard answer, “Always.”

  After watching Katie drive away, Rainey headed toward the office at the bottom of the hill. It was a bait shop and tiny grocery on Lake Jordan when her father inherited the property. She smiled at the old hillbilly Mountain Dew sign she still preserved in her father’s memory. He faithfully painted it with a protective clear coat every year he lived there. He built the cottage next door up on stilts, mirroring one from his memory down at Nags Head. Rainey looked around and out over the lake. She had a good life now, and even though she was without her father, she had never been happier. The pain and loss she experienced before Katie no longer weighed her down. The clouds had parted and Rainey could see the sun again.

  #

  The toe tapping on the lavender high-heeled pump belonged to Ernie, who was never late and expected those with whom she worked to hold punctuality as dearly as she did. Since Katie moved in, Rainey faced many mornings like this. Ernie loved Katie and accepted her into the fold with open arms, but that didn’t let Rainey off the hook when it came to the business. Rainey prepared for Ernie’s wrath, as she closed the office door behind her and turned to face the petite gray-haired woman in the lavender power suit.

  Rainey smiled. “Can we at least say good morning before you light into me?”

  “Good morning,” Ernie said, still tapping her toe. “You do remember that we have an appointment this morning?”

  Rainey crossed to the coffee pot, filling the mug that waited for her there, while she talked. “Yes, I remember. We still have an hour. Are you going dressed like that?”

  “What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?”

  “Well, Ernie, most folks don’t wear power suits and heels to qualify at the firing range.” Rainey tried to control her childish giggles and hid behind the coffee mug. Giggling was something Rainey had forgotten how to do, but Katie had reminded her.

  Ernie, hands on hips, stated, “Since this is how I dress on a daily basis, and this is how I’ll be dressed if I ever have to use the damn thing, I suppose I should qualify in my usual attire.”

  “Well, all right then. I guess you’ve got a point there,” Rainey answered, but she was still chuckling behind the cup.

  A black Escalade pulled in front of the office, interrupting the debate over proper clothing at the firing range. Miles Cecil McKinney, Rainey’s business partner, had arrived. Mackie, to those who knew him, unfolded his gigantic, six-foot six-inch, in excess of three hundred pounds, frame from the vehicle. He paused to put his oiled buffalo hide, black Outback hat on top of his massive head. Mackie was as dark as night, in stark contrast to his blazingly white teeth. Like Rainey, he was dressed all in black, a long leather coat adding to his intimidating appearance. Mackie’s broad shoulders cast an impressive shadow, not to mention how scary it was to walk up on him in the dark. He smiled when he entered the room, shutting the door behind him with a loud thud.

  Ernie flinched and then lit into him, “Mackie, I’ll bet your momma tanned your hide for slamming doors. How in the hell a grown man doesn’t know his own strength is beyond me.”

  Rainey remained hidden behind the coffee mug, snickering at the tiny Ernie and the cowering giant man. Mackie spotted her and saw his chance to avoid Ernie’s wrath.

  His rumbling bass voice filled the room. “Why are you still here? I thought you told me you and Rainey would be gone before I got here this morning.”

  The ruse worked. Ernie turned on Rainey again. “I’ve been waiting on love-struck over there. Look at her. Still got lipstick on her cheek.”

  Rainey stopped laughing and reached for a napkin on the counter. She went into the bathroom, leaving the door open, so that Mackie’s laughter echoed into the little room.

  Rainey called out to her office mates, “Y'all are just old and have forgotten what being in love is like. Besides she does this to me on purpose, just so you two can have a laugh.”

  Ernie answered, “You ain’t been worth two cents since that girl got a hold to ya’.”

  “You got that right,” Mackie said, followed by more rumbles of laughter.

  Rainey came out of the bathroom with her left cheek rubbed red where she had removed the offending lipstick. She knew they were secretly ecstatic that she was no longer moping around and her nightmares had quieted. She played along. “Okay, okay. You’ve had your laugh at my expense. Now, aren’t we supposed to be going somewhere?”

  Ernie headed for her desk, saying, “Since you’re here, Mackie, take this paper down to the state office and get your bond ID and license renewed.”

  Mackie reached out with a giant paw and took the papers Ernie held extended. “Thank you. I’ll go as soon as I answer a few messages. Junior’s ‘bout found that Simpson boy. I think we’ll get him this evening.”

  Rainey’s father started Billy Bell’s Bail and Bait, after he and Mackie came home from the Vietnam War. With Mackie as his partner, Billy built a healthy bond business. When he was killed, two years ago, Rainey inherited fifty-one percent of the business. Shortly after, she took medical leave from the BAU and came to work in the office full-time.

  Ernie turned to Rainey. “Do you have your paper
work in the car?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Rainey answered obediently.

  It might be Rainey’s last name on the sign outside, but Ernie was most definitely in charge. She ran the business for the last thirty-five years and saved them more than once when the money got tight. She was the mother figure in Rainey’s life. After all these years, and more than one near death experience, Rainey depended on Ernie for much needed support and guidance. On the other hand, Rainey went out of her way to avoid her real mother, Constance Herndon.

  “All right then, let’s get going,” Ernie said, grabbing her matching lavender handbag.

  “Where’s your pistol?” Rainey asked.

  “In my purse.”

  “Is it loaded?” Rainey asked, retreating instinctively.

  “Yes, I’ll unload it before we go in. I have to buy the bullets at the range anyway,” Ernie answered, as if this statement negated the illegality of her actions.

  “Ernie, you can’t carry a concealed weapon, yet. Take it out and put it in the gun case I gave you.”

  “Who’s going to know? No one would suspect I was carrying a gun,” Ernie shot back.

  “Why, because you’re dressed so nicely?” Rainey said, sarcastically.

  “No, because they’ll be looking at that cannon strapped to you,” Ernie answered, and then started out the door. “You are no longer an officer of the law, so shut up, and get in the car.”

  Mackie chuckled. “You heard her. Get going.”

  Rainey followed Ernie out the door, fussing at her as they left. “Don’t call me when you get arrested. Hope you know a good bail bondsman.”

  #

  Several hours later, Rainey and Ernie left the firing range with Ernie’s newly endorsed concealed carry training certificate. Although she tried to cover her excitement, Ernie was beaming. She completed an eight-hour training class a week ago and passed the firearms proficiency portion with flying colors, today. Now, Rainey had to take Ernie to be fingerprinted and turn in her application to the Sheriff’s office. Rainey was about to unleash a legally armed Ernie on the world. God help them all.

  Cell phones had to be turned off on the range. Rainey checked her messages on the hands free device as soon as she was inside the 2010 Dodge Charger, her dream car. Rainey loved the sound of the 5.7-liter, V-8 engine roaring to life. This was no ordinary Charger. It was customized with dark tinted armored window glass, ballistic panels in the doors, wireless network access, digital video cameras, run flat tires, and a sweet weapons vault welded into the trunk. Everything a person could need to fight the boogey man. Rainey had fought him and won, but she knew there were more just like him out there, and that made her love her car even more.

  She also loved the woman whose voice was coming through the speakers of the car. Katie had left a message only minutes before.

  “Hey, good lookin’. Guess you’re still on the range. Don’t call me back. I have to turn off my phone. Everything went fine, but I’m going in for a quick ultrasound, if there is such a thing as a quick medical anything. Then I’m going by the school to see some old friends. I’ll see you back at the house. Love ya’.”

  Rainey hit the button on her phone to erase the message. The next message played.

  “Hey, it’s me again. Be home by five. I’m cooking your favorite. Bye.”

  “Aww, now isn’t that just the sweetest thing,” Ernie chimed in mockingly. “You are the most lovesick two people I have ever witnessed.”

  Rainey blushed and hung up the phone. Ernie was right. They were absolutely gushing and Katie appeared not to care who noticed. Rainey had always been much more reserved when it came to romantic emotions, but Katie was a force to be reckoned with. They came together in a clash of heat and loneliness that shook both their worlds to the core. Katie turned out to be irresistible and broke through any of Rainey’s wariness with unbending faith that it was the right thing to do. Rainey never loved anything or anyone the way she loved Katie. She hadn’t known she was capable of loving that deeply. Although Ernie and Mackie, but mostly Ernie, teased her mercilessly, Rainey wouldn’t change a thing. This was it, the happiness everyone was looking for. Katie made Rainey’s life complete.

  Rainey sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t help it, Ernie. She fascinates me.”

  Ernie patted Rainey’s hand. “I know, honey. I’m glad you’re happy, but you two are sick’nin’ sweet. I hope it wears off some before long.”

  Rainey grinned over at Ernie just as she turned the key in the ignition. She depressed the accelerator several times, making the big engine rumble. She winked. “I don’t.”

  Ernie examined Rainey for a moment before she spoke. “I really am happy for you and I’m sure your father would be too…”

  Rainey pulled the car out of the parking place and headed for the street. “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

  “You’re moving really fast, Rainey. You went from broke down and worn out to rapture pretty quick, don’t you think? You’re a behavioral analyst, how would you advise someone like you?”

  Rainey turned the car out onto the street, heading for the Wake County Sheriff’s Department offices, in downtown Raleigh. She thought about what Ernie was asking her before answering, “I assume you’re talking about the baby thing.”

  “Not just the baby thing, and good lord that’s enough, but you’re also building a house. You changed your sexuality about a minute ago and you and Katie haven’t even had time to deal with that. You were both traumatized when you found each other. That’s not usually a recipe for a long-term relationship. These are life changing steps you’re about to undertake and they are happening at a record pace, in my humble opinion.”

  “Ernie, you’ve never had a humble opinion in your life,” Rainey said, laughing, unable to be offended by the older woman’s prodding.

  “Don’t be a smartass. You know I’m right,” Ernie shot back.

  Rainey reached over and patted Ernie’s leg. “Okay, okay, I know you’re just worried. Look, I appreciate that this all appears very fast and I do recognize that Katie and I met under less than ideal circumstances. This whole falling for a woman thing took me by surprise, too.” She shook her head and chuckled. “I mean, come on, this was the last thing I thought was going to happen to me.”

  Ernie’s voice came out softer when she said, “Is it because of what that man did to you? I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted another man within a mile of you.”

  Rainey returned her hand to the wheel and gripped it a little tighter. She rarely thought about the attack, but when she did the rush of emotion would often overwhelm her. Not this time. She held the flashing pictures in her mind at bay. She took her eyes off the road just long enough to make eye contact with Ernie, who looked sincerely worried.

  “No, Ernie, that is not why I’m with a woman. I’d be foolish to say that having a relationship with a man after that would not have had its challenging moments, but I hold no animosity towards men in general. A man didn’t do what happened to me; a monster did. Believe me, there is a distinct difference. My being with Katie has more to do with who she is than what sex she is. I don’t know that I would be attracted to other women like I am to Katie. It just feels right. It feels permanent.”

  Ernie didn’t let up. “Okay, but this having a baby is a huge step.”

  Rainey considered her response carefully. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I haven’t had moments of doubt. Not doubts about Katie and me, but I’ve worried that we were rushing into this, that I was caught up in glow, and so eager to please her that I said yes without thinking.”

  “That’s what I’m saying,” Ernie interjected.

  Rainey waved a hand and cut her off. “Wait, I’m not finished. I fully believe whether she was with me or not Katie would still be doing this. Losing the baby last year just made her want a child even more. If this is that important to her, how could I not say yes? I promised to support her in this decision and that’s what I’m
going to do. Katie is a package deal.”

  Ernie turned in the seat to face Rainey. “How do you feel about becoming a parent?”

  “Katie is just going through the process of preparing for the procedure. The actual attempts to get pregnant will come later. The doctor just wants to make sure she’s fully recovered from all the trauma she went through last year.”

  “Rainey, that’s not what I asked you. Are you ready to be a parent?”

  Rainey smiled at Ernie. “This is going to surprise you, but yes I am. I can’t imagine anything more satisfying than having a family with Katie.”

  “It’s a lifelong commitment,” Ernie said, adding, “You do realize you can’t just put food on the floor and let it in and out a doggie door?”

  “I was thinking of using a shock collar and an electric fence. Is that too much?” Rainey grinned and winked, making the turn toward the Capital. She wasn’t looking at Ernie when she casually added, “Besides, Katie’s the mother.”

  Ernie burst into loud howls of laughter. “You think Katie is going to handle all the child stuff and your life is going to go on just like it is. You think about this moment when you’re rocking a screaming child at two a.m., smelling like vomit and dirty diapers, while Katie is passed out trying to grab just a few minutes of sleep. Honey, your life will never be the same.”

  The image was too real for Rainey. She shook her head and tried to make a joke. “I’ll have to use all those great parenting skills I learned from my mother.”

  It only egged Ernie on. She started a different tack. “And you’re going to build a house this year, too. Which comes first, the baby or the construction?”

  “We meet with the architect next Monday. Should start building in a month or two. In a perfect world, it will be done by the end of summer, but I’m guessing fall probably. I don’t know how long it will take for Katie to get pregnant.” She paused and glanced at Ernie, before continuing, “Hey, I was going to build a house on that land anyway. That’s what Dad and I talked about.”