“Yes, sir,” Janie says.
“Good. Let’s talk about drinking. Believe me, Durbin’s going to be watching that everybody has a drink in hand.” Janie looks at her suspiciously. “You’re not going to arrest me or anything if I have a drink in my hand, right?” Captain raises an eyebrow. “Not unless you do some thing stupid. But I think you should carry around a beverage, yes, so nobody gets suspicious. I don’t encourage drinking on the job, though.”
“Okay…and no setting my beverage down at any time, right? No keg, no punch bowl, no mixed drinks.”
Captain nods, impressed. “You’ve done your homework on date-rape drugs, I see. Good job.” She pulls a small package of date-rape drug testers from her desk drawer and hands them to Janie. “Are you familiar with these?”
Janie smiles, reaches inside her bag, and pulls out an identical package.
“Excellent.” Captain nods. “Cabel. What’s your job?”
“Watching in agony, sir.”
Captain suppresses a smile. “I’d make you stay home if I didn’t know you’d sneak out, anyway. While you are watching in agony, feel free to take note of anyone who comes or goes that’s not on the list.”
“Thank you,” Cabel says meekly.
“Baker and Cobb, you clear on procedure?”
“Yes, sir,” they say together.
“Great. You two may go.”
Baker and Cobb slap Janie on the back, like she’s one of the guys, give her the thumbs-up, and head out. Janie grins.
Captain turns to Janie.
“Tonight is not the night to get sucked into any drunk person’s dream.
Try and steer clear if you can. If you can’t, we’ll deal with that later. I do understand you can’t control the actions of other people, so don’t panic if it happens and you get stuck.”
Janie nods.
“And be safe. Follow your gut. You’re smart. You have a terrific sense of intuition. Use it like you have in the past, and we’ll all walk away just fine. All right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Any questions?”
“No.”
“Good. Call me if you think of any,” Captain says. “And, Janie, I have never been more serious. Use that panic lighter if you need it. Don’t be a martyr and don’t think you can handle this job alone. We work as a team. Got it?”
“Got it. I’m ready, sir.”
“And a reminder. This could be nothing more than just an ordinary party. Our goal is to find and arrest a sexual predator. Not to bust the guy for serving a few drinks to minors. We can always get him next time for that. Like I said, use your intuition and judgment.”
“I will.”
“Cabel. Any questions?”
“No, sir.”
“Get on out of here, then. I’ll see you sometime in the next twenty-four hours, I expect. Damn, I hate this job.”
10:09 a.m.
Janie makes her crème-de-menthe bars and puts them in the refrigerator, and then makes lunch. Cabel stops by and mopes around uselessly, unable to talk about anything. Janie finally sends him away.
“Be careful, baby,” he says, kissing the top of her head.
Janie’s quiet.
And he’s gone.
2:32 p.m.
Janie lights her relaxation votive candle and sits still on her bed, clearing her mind, meditating. Preparing herself. She mentally runs through her profile sheets. All the events that led up to today. And then her mind strays to Stacey’s car dream. She goes through it, step by step. She knows there’s a connection between the dream and Mr.
Durbin, but how? Did Mr. Durbin actually rape her? Janie thinks about Lauren. Wishes she could have focused on the faces in her party dream, but they were blurred beyond recognition. And if Lauren has nightmares about the party, why doesn’t she have qualms or reservations or downright contempt for the host? Why didn’t the anonymous caller follow up with another call to Crimebusters Underground?
She dozes for an hour, asking herself to figure out the connection between the dreams and this party tonight.
Herself says no.
When she wakes up, Janie takes a shower and puts on tight jeans and a low-cut V-neck sweater. She adds a hint of makeup and ties her hair back, low, in a ribbon, leaving a few wisps out to frame her face. She grabs a snack and a glass of milk, making quick work of them, and brushes her teeth. Puts on some lip gloss.
It’s showtime.
5:57 p.m.
“I’m pulling up to the house. I’ll see you after,” Janie says.
“If you get a chance to call me…safely…you know…” Cabel’s voice is anxious.
“I will if I can. Love you, Cabe.”
“Love you, Janie. Be safe.”
They hang up. It’s a warm night for early March, and the snow is gone, leaving muddy yards, puddles, and potholes everywhere. Janie parks on the street, double-checks her pockets, grabs her dessert, and takes a deep breath, then strips off her coat and tosses it on the passenger seat next to her. Never hurts to have an excuse to get out of the house. She bought a pack of cigarettes earlier and leaves them in the coat pocket.
Janie closes her eyes momentarily, gets into her character, and gets out of her car. She sees the tail end of Baker’s “soccer-mom” minivan down the street, and he flashes the brake lights at her. For some reason that makes her feel tremendously more confident, and she smiles in his direction, knowing he can see her with his high-powered binoculars.