Sarah had barely started drinking her tea when the back doorbell buzzed. Jennifer told her to stay put and hurried out to answer it, returning a moment later with a young policewoman.

“Ms. Tucker? I’m Officer Colleen McDonald. I understand there was some trouble here.” Tall and lean, with the red hair and freckles her name personified, Officer McDonald gave Sarah a friendly smile. “Detective Detweiler said this wasn’t the first incident.” She pulled out a small notebook and uncapped a pen. “Can you tell me everything you remember?”

By the time Sarah and Jennifer had answered all of Officer McDonald’s questions, Connor had come and gone. An ache in her head threatened to overtake the one below Sarah’s belly and she felt herself trembling. Officer McDonald snapped the cap back on her pen and slid the notebook into her pocket. “I’m under strict orders to give you a ride home, ma’am,” she said.

Sarah looked at the mess. “No need. I’ll clean up here and I can take the bus.”

“I’ll clean,” Jennifer said. “You go home. Get some sleep.”

“My car’s out back,” the policewoman said.

Sarah turned to Jennifer. “Thanks. You can leave the receipts in the safe. I’ll come in early Monday and finish.”

Sarah followed the officer to the patrol car parked in the alley. “Do I know you? You look familiar. Maybe from high school?”

“You might have known my older brother, Greg. He would have been a couple of years behind you. Me, I was a bit of a hellion. My folks sent me to St. Luke’s to let the nuns straighten me out. Guess they did—look what I’m doing for a living.” She stopped at a blue and white patrol car. “Here we are,” she said. She unlocked the passenger door. “You can ride up front.”

Sarah winced as she lowered herself into the seat.

The officer must have noticed. “Are you all right, ma’am?”

“I’m fine. Just killer cramps.” Sarah rested her head against the glass of the car’s window, letting her eyes half close. “It wasn’t so bad when I was on the Pill. But since my husband died, I haven’t taken them and the last few months, I’ve been miserable for about two days.”

“Maybe you ought to start again. Make things easier on you.”

“Mmmh. Maybe.” If getting back on the pill would mean she didn’t have to feel like this several days a month, that was a good enough reason to consider it. As for the other benefits, well, if it turned out they would come in handy, so be it. Good lord, where had that thought come from? Randy was a cop working on a case. Her hormones were really doing a number on her.

Sarah hoped she wasn’t blushing. She turned her face toward the window and away from any possibility of carrying the conversation any further, making a point of studying the streets. When they passed Loomis Drugs, she said, “Take a left at the corner. You can drop me off in front.”

“No way, ma’am. Strict instructions to make sure you’re secured before I leave. I don’t know how much you’ve dealt with Detective Detweiler, but I’m sure as heck not getting on his bad side.”

The officer parked and was opening the passenger door before Sarah could unbuckle her seat belt. Sarah accepted the outstretched hand.

She dragged herself up the steps to the building and opened the foyer door. The flight of stairs loomed like Mount Hood. Gripping the handrail, she supported herself through the climb, barely aware of the police officer staying one step below her.

Inside her apartment at last, Sarah let her purse fall to the floor, followed by her coat, then collapsed on the couch with a groan. “Thanks, Officer,” she said. “You can go. I’m fine.”

“Detweiler told me to give you the VIP treatment and I’m on duty for another fifteen minutes. You’re stuck with me until then.” She crossed the room and began perusing Sarah’s CD collection. “Nice variety. You like Simon and Garfunkel?”

“Brought up on it, I guess. My mom played them all the time when…when things were rough. And when my husband died, I found they worked for me, too.”

The policewoman roamed the room, looked out the windows and Sarah felt a flutter of panic. “Are you my bodyguard? Are you afraid I’m in danger?”

The policewoman came back and settled in the armchair nearest Sarah. “We have no grounds to protect you like that, ma’am. No threats have been made, no personal harm has been done.”

Sarah swung her legs over the side of the couch and pushed herself up to a sitting position. A flicker of motion from her kitchen window caught her eye. She’d have to let Maggie know the new neighbors were in. Some other time. Right now, she didn’t care if she ever found out who had moved in. All she wanted was to crawl into a hole. A deep, dark hole.

“Thanks,” Sarah said. “For everything. I’m fine.”

“You get some rest.” Officer McDonald left and Sarah locked the door behind her.