Catch Me (50 page)

She turned to Jack, who waved his pudgy fists in the slightly reclined high chair.

“I think your father is loco,” she informed him.

He blew more zerberts.

Alex returned, now holding an unmistakable blue box that made D.D.’s eyes widen. “No way!”

“Fourteen months ago. I have been waiting fourteen months. Have I mentioned yet what a stubborn, infuriating, completely maddening woman you are?”

D.D.’s heart was pounding again. “Not the words of praise I was expecting during a proposal.”

But it didn’t matter. Had never mattered. Alex was on his knee, in their kitchen, with their baby covered in rice cereal and D.D. half-sprayed in rice cereal and it was exactly as it should be.

“D. D. Warren, will you marry me?”

“Alex Wilson, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” they said together, and he opened the box, and she gasped because it was a sapphire studded band, just like something she’d actually wear. Then she cried a little and he cried a little and baby Jack blew more zerberts so they hugged and kissed him, too, until they were all covered in rice cereal, even the sparkly sapphire band.

“I don’t get it,” Alex said, when the dust had settled and Jack was halfway cleaned up and they’d decided to pop champagne. “Why now? You discover you can’t arrest a murderer, and that makes you decide to finally marry me?”

“No. I discovered I could handle a little on-the-job frustration, because I now have more in my world than just the job. I have you, and Jack. Not to mention, when I got the report, I realized I didn’t even care if Phil and Neil knew. I just wanted to come home and tell you.”

She eyed her fiancé, sitting beside her on the couch, and she said more softly, more seriously, “You did what I feared most, Alex. And I had to have that happen, to realize it wasn’t so bad.”

“What did I do?”

“You changed me.” She shrugged. “My whole life, that’s what I’ve fought. I was the oddball in my own family, the little tomboy freak. And my parents didn’t get me, and definitely didn’t approve of me, and while some kids might have worked harder for their parents’ approval, I went the other way. I dug in my heels. And I decided no matter what, I’d always be me, even if that meant I might sometimes be, say…a little prickly, a little forceful. It was okay, because I was being me.”

“A little prickly,” he said. “A little forceful.”

She smiled. “You didn’t back down. And you didn’t try to change me. You’re good for me, Alex. You’re patient and tolerant and exactly the kind of parent Jack needs. Watching you, I’ve realized that I can be that way, too. It’s good to sometimes be patient. And a little tolerance does make the world easier to bear. I’m not saying I can’t still be mean—”

“I would never doubt it,” he assured her.

“But I’m also realizing I can approach things other ways. And I can be happy. I can come home, and for the first time in my life, I can be. Just…be.”

Alex took her hand. He squeezed it and didn’t say a word because he didn’t have to. He got her, that’s what it was all about.

“I love you, Alex.”

“I love you, too, D.D.”

They put Jack to bed, snuggled together on the sofa. Discussed possibly painting the family room. Watched some show on the History Channel. Fell asleep with marines storming some beach in some faraway land.

Midnight, Jack woke up for a bottle.

D.D. fed him, then put him and Alex to bed.

Two A.M., her police pager chimed to life.

She dressed in the dark. Kissed Alex. Kissed Jack. Clipped on her badge, hit the road.

Sergeant Detective D. D. Warren. On the job and loving it.

By far, my favorite part of the writing process is interviewing fun and interesting people in order to learn fun and interesting ways of terrifying my readers (and sometimes myself!).
Catch Me
is no exception. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to:

Ellen Ohlenbusch, Internet safety expert, who absolutely, positively horrified me with her matter-of-fact explanation of all the ways the World Wide Web can be used to stalk and victimize young children. It’s an interesting subject that most parents don’t want to hear about, but what you don’t know can hurt you. Just ask Jesse’s mom, Jennifer, in this novel. Oh, thanks also for the use of your name. What can I say, Ohlenbusch was too good to pass up, especially for a Boston cop.

Speaking of Boston cops…Wayne Rock, Esquire. I first met Wayne when I was researching another D. D. Warren adventure,
Hide
, seven years ago. Since then, Wayne has retired from the Boston PD, but still can’t escape my phone calls. From police procedure to pertinent legal details, Wayne is always in the know, much to my deepest relief and appreciation.

For police dispatch, I’m indebted to a number of folks, including Shannon L. Barnes from the Gardner Police. I think communications officers are one of the most invaluable and overlooked members of the law enforcement community. Thank you for allowing me to share your story, wish I had even more time and space to do it justice.

On the boxing front, I owe my deepest gratitude to three-time
world champion Dick Kimber. He has shared his love of boxing with my entire family. Yes, a family that fights together, stays together. He also shared many tidbits on self-defense, including the pen trick, which I can personally assure you really, really hurts. My forearm was bruised for weeks. Thanks, Dick!

As always, all mistakes in this novel are mine and mine alone. Hey, I gotta take credit for something.

Now, for those of you who thought some of these characters had more stories to share, you’re right! Charlie’s shooting instructor, J. T. Dillon and his wife, Tess, first appeared in my novel
The Perfect Husband
. Rhode Island Sergeant Roan Griffin met his wife Jillian in
The Survivors Club
. Former FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, and his daughter, FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy, share an entire series, including
The Perfect Husband, The Third Victim
,
The Next Accident
,
The Killing Hour
,
Gone
, and
Say Goodbye.
Also, brief shout out for FBI healthcare fraud investigator David Riggs, who appeared in
The Other Daughter.
I’m sure he had no problem gathering evidence against Randi Menke’s evil ex, and only wishes he could’ve put the bad doc away for life. For more information on all the characters as well as other Lisa Gardner novels, please check out
LisaGardner.com
.

As for how so many of my characters came to inhabit one novel, you may thank/blame my mother. I told her I’d come up with a great way to bring back J. T. Dillon, as I knew readers missed him. She nodded politely, then mentioned that she really wanted to see Griffin from
The Survivors Club
. And the more she thought about it, it’d been a long time since she’d gotten to read about Quincy or Kimberly. What about them?

Once I got over gnashing my teeth, it occurred to me that my accountant mother had a very good idea. So this book is for you, Mom. Because you always cared and you always inspired, even if having a novelist daughter continues to bemuse you. I love you.

Speaking of love, this book is also dedicated to the real Tulip. Adopted by her devoted family from an animal shelter sixteen years ago, Tulip has lived a grand life as one of the smartest, gentlest dogs around. Her family won the honor of including Tulip in this novel
at a charity auction for the Animal Rescue League of NH-North. They said that they understood their time with Tulip was reaching an end, and they wanted to capture her unbelievable spirit, as well as immortalize one of the best dogs they’d ever known. So here’s to Tulip, who continues to inspire.

As for other real-life fictional characters…Congratulations to Tom Mackereth and Randi Menke for winning the annual Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy/Mate Sweepstakes at
LisaGardner.com
. As winners they got to nominate the person of their choice to die and/or be maimed in my next novel. They both nominated themselves. Hope you enjoy the fictional ride. As for the rest of you, the sweepstakes is up and running once more. Swing by
LisaGardner.com
, and who knows, maybe next year, this can be you!

Also, congratulations to Stan Miller, who won the honor at another charity auction and to Frances Beals, whose daughter Kim graciously purchased the honor for her at a benefit for the Rozzie May Animal Alliance.

As always, my love and gratitude to my family: the husband who’s grown accustomed to a wife who stares off into space for long periods of time, and the daughter who every single day asks about the book, demanding a full accounting of what where when why and who, and then, if I’m really lucky, nods her approval. Phew!

Finally, my deepest appreciation to not one, but two new editors extraordinaire: Ben Sevier of Dutton in the United States and Vicki Mellor of Headline in the UK. Here is to the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

LISA GARDNER
is the
New York Times
best-selling author of fourteen novels. Her Detective D. D. Warren novels include
Catch Me
,
Love You More
,
Live to Tell
,
The Neighbor
,
Hide
, and
Alone
. Her FBI profiler novels include
Say Goodbye
,
Gone
,
The Killing Hour
,
The Next Accident
, and
The Third Victim
. She lives with her family in New England, where she is at work on her next novel.