Find all the parts of this story here.
Chapter 5: Firsts
Part 2: Sam
Sam Harrison wasn’t nervous for his firearm qualifications. He wasn’t nervous when he had to meet with his grand-boss. He wasn’t nervous when his radio squawked or his mother called or even when he heard Ryan was responding to a five-alarm fire.
He was, however, nervous about picking up Sophie for their date.
Sam didn’t date much. He could count all of his dates, first or otherwise, on just his fingers, and have a few to spare. Sure, New Albany had plenty of fine young ladies. They just didn’t flip his switch. Sophie… did.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been on shift all day, so he’d had very little to occupy his mind. He had cleaned his little 2-bedroom house, even though it didn’t need it. He had stocked his freezer, even though it didn’t need it. He had done three loads of laundry, which, in retrospect, had definitely been needed.
Despite his constant checking, when he could think of nothing else to do, his phone said it was only 5:23, which was way too early to begin the 4-minute drive from his neighborhood to Sophie’s. It was amazing the difference in neighborhood a 3-mile drive could make.
He had just resolved to take a walk around the block when his phone chimed a text notification.
Sophie: Are you free?
Sam just called her back.
“Hello?” Hmm. She sounded a little squeaky, like she did when she was upset.
“Hi, Sophie. What’s up?” He tried to keep a calm tone.
“I, um… I don’t… This feels silly, but did you, uh, send me… something?”
He could practically hear her nerves vibrating over the phone. Her vagueness set him on edge.
“What did you receive, Sophie?” he asked.
She let out a loud exhale. “Flowers.”
“I did not send you flowers,” he confirmed. “Is there a note?”
“No,” she whispered. “Why does that make me nervous?”
“It’s okay, Sophie. Just leave the flowers on the floor. Were they outside your door?”
“Yeah. I found them when I came home, but… I’m sorry, I brought them inside. I didn’t think anything was wrong until I couldn’t find a note. I’m sorry,” she repeated.
“Nothing to apologize for, Sophie, truly. You did what was normal. Just leave them where they are now, okay? I’ll be over in 5 minutes.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, then hung up. Sam drove as fast as he legally could, pulling into her building’s parking lot in 4 minutes. He cast a glance around downstairs, bummed yet again by the lack of cameras. Then he sprinted upstairs and knocked on her door.
“Thanks for coming,” she said as soon as she opened the door. Sam reached out and squeezed her hand.
“I’m happy to. I’m sorry the flowers made you nervous. Can I look?”
“Over there,” she nodded toward the kitchen. He gripped and released her hand, then walked over to the bouquet. It was a large arrangement, with flowers spreading tall and wide out of a square vase. He confirmed no visible card, and nothing indicated where the flowers had come from. There was only one flower shop in Williamson, and he made a mental note to give them a call first thing in the morning.
Fingerprints would likely be unhelpful. Sophie had touched the vase, and odds were good that whoever sent the flowers did not deliver them. Their best hope was that the flower shop had good records, cameras, or both.
“I’ll talk to the florist here in town in the morning, but there’s nothing else to do tonight. Mind if I take some pictures?” he asked.
“Go ahead,” Sophie replied, arms crossed around her waist. He took pictures from multiple angles before turning back to her.
“Do you want to keep them?” he asked.
“No,” she shuddered.
“Trash bags?”
“Under the sink,” Sophie pointed. He dug in the cabinet and pulled out a large enough bin liner to contain the whole arrangement. Then he packed it up.
“I’ll toss it on our way out. Do you need some time before dinner, or would you like to go now?” he offered.
Sophie looked down at herself. “Can I have 10 minutes?” She bit her lip.
He couldn’t help but smile. “Of course. Take your time. Mind if I answer some emails from your living room?” He gestured with his phone.
“Make yourself at home,” she smiled back, then disappeared into her room.
Sam settled on the couch, but he didn’t answer emails right away. He sent just one, to his direct supervisor, Sgt. Victor Breitung. The man was a bloodhound with even the smallest mystery. Sam didn’t expect anything, but he knew he didn’t have the experience to do just about anything. He relayed the facts he knew as well as his plan to interview the florist in town when they opened in the morning.
To his utter lack of surprise, (Vic was chained to his cell phone, after all) Sam received a response before Sophie returned. Vic suggested a few specific questions to ask the florist, asked for the photos Sam had taken, and wondered if anything else suspicious had happened to Sophie lately.
“Hey, you ready?” Sam asked as he rose, then stopped to take in her appearance. She had changed out of her ill-fitting professional wear (why did the woman own nothing her size?) and into a pair of slim-cut jeans, sunshine-yellow sneakers, and a yellow-and-white polka dot sweater. She looked like sunshine incarnate, and he had to swallow a few times before he could process whatever she had just said.
“Sorry,” he shook his head. “You look really nice.”
Her cheeks flushed bright red as she looked down and wiggled her sneakers. “Uh, thanks.”
“Before we go, can I ask a quick question?”
“Sure,” she replied, wide-eyed.
“Has anything else unusual happened lately?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You mean like the flowers?”
“Yes.”
“Um… No. No, I don’t think so.”
“Think so?” he pushed.
“Well, there was a $5 Starbucks gift card under my windshield wiper one morning last week. I just figured someone was doing a random act of kindness.”
“Do you still have it?”
“Ah, no. I used it already. Sorry…”
“All good. I take it there was no note?”
She shook her head. “Nope. No writing at all. Just the card in the little paper holder.”
“All right. Thanks. Ready for the best burger in Washburn county?” He winked and held out his elbow for her. She laughed lightly as she slipped her fingers into the crook of his arm.
“A burger sounds delightful.”