Andrew Neiderman - Deficiency

She could hear her phone ringing inside and hurried out of the car and into the house, seizing the receiver in the kitchen so forcefully and quickly, she nearly ripped the phone off the wall.

"Doctor Barnard," she said.

"Terri, Will Dennis. I got your message and I have a sheriff's patrol car on the way to your home. Are you all right?"

"Yes. I thought he was following me for a while back there, but..."

"But what?"

"But I'm not positive it was the same man."

"Someone was following you, though?"

"No, I don't know. No," she concluded. "I'm not thinking like a rational person at the moment."

"Just sit tight anyway. Keep every door and window closed until the officer arrives. Did this man threaten you in any way at the hospital?"

"I felt he was trying to intimidate me. He was certainly more demanding than he was the first time we met at my office."

"What did he want from you exactly?"

"He was very interested in whatever I might have learned from Kristin Martin. He seemed so positive I had something. I didn't let on that I knew he wasn't really a law enforcement officer, but he said one strange thing, I thought. Among many, I guess."

"What was that?"

"He said he was the only one who could prevent this from happening to someone else. When I asked him why, weren't there other police officers on it, he said he was most familiar with the M.O."

"That might be very true, but not for the reasons he's implying." The light from the headlights of a car turning into her driveway washed over the wall.

"Someone's here!" she said.

"Check to see if it's the sheriff's car. I'll hold on," Will Dennis said. She went to the front window and breathed relief when she saw the sheriff's logo and the bubble light on the roof. Then she returned to the phone.

"It's the sheriff's car."

"Good. Tell him what happened and let him look around. He'll check everything for you and help you feel more comfortable. I'll call again in twenty minutes."

"Okay," she said and hung up.

The door bell rang, and she went to greet the officer.

"Dr. Barnard?"

"Yes," she said, "please come in."

"The district attorney contacted our dispatcher, who got to me just a while ago. Someone threatened you at the hospital parking lot?"

"He didn't exactly threaten me, but, well, didn't they give you any more information?"

"I was just told to get here quickly and make sure you were all right, Doctor," he replied dryly.

This police officer has a really robotic military demeanor about him, she thought. He stood firm, straight at six feet two and looked at her with a stern face of granite, his features sharp. Normally, she would not appreciate him, but at the moment, he gave her a sense of security, and that she did appreciate. Combining her spat with Curt with her terrifying moments, she felt drained of any energy and resistance. It was good to have someone else upon whom she could lean.

"I just spoke with the district attorney. There's a man going about impersonating a state investigator. He came to my office and he just confronted me in the hospital parking lot. He didn't attempt to harm me in any way there, but I thought I saw him following me when I left."

"Can you describe the vehicle driven by the man following you?" he asked.

"Actually, no," she said, a bit ashamed and disappointed in herself for being so distracted by her own fears. "I mean, it was a dark color, but I didn't take note of the make or model."

He nodded, not showing any disapproval.

"Perhaps I should check around the house first," he said. "Just precautionary."

"Yes, of course," she said. It had never occurred to her that the man impersonating a state police investigator would not need to follow her home to know where she lived. That added a new dimension of terror to the situation.

"That stairway goes..."

"To the bedrooms," she said. "Downstairs is the living room you see here on my right. The dining room is straight ahead and after that is the kitchen and pantry. There's a bathroom just before the kitchen."

"Backdoor?"

"Through the pantry. It's an old house. It was my grandmother's," she added. He finally broke into a smile.

"I like these older homes. They have character," he said.

"A character living in one," she muttered to herself as he walked on through. She brought the milk into the kitchen and then thought about making some herbal tea.

When the rear door opened, she nearly jumped over the table, but it was only the police officer. She had thought he had gone directly upstairs.

"It's quiet out back," he said. "I'll look through the bedrooms and closets upstairs. Is there an attic?"

"Yes, but you have to pull down one of those ladders to get to it."

"Yes, I understand."

"Would you like something to drink? I'm making myself some tea," she said.

"No thank you."

He went to the stairway. She made the tea and sat with her hands around the cup, watching the steam rise out of it. She almost didn't hear him return.

"Everything looks fine, Dr. Barnard. You should just lock up. Is there an alarm system?"

"No," she said. "I haven't gotten around to adding that yet. My grandparents never even considered having one."

"I understand. Well, I'll have another patrol car make a sweep by here tonight and of course, if you hear anything or for any reason want us to return, please don't hesitate to call."

"Thank you."

"My pleasure," he said. "I imagine the district attorney has his eyes on this. He's a good man."

"Yes, he is," she said.

She followed him to the front door and locked up after him. A moment or so later, the phone rang. It was Will Dennis.

"Everything is quiet. I'm sure I just imagined that man behind me," she told him.

"Still, he had the nerve to come looking for you at the hospital. He's arrogant in his madness. You have your regular office hours tomorrow?"

"Yes, an easy day, just a nine to five. About what you proposed at the hospital earlier," she started to say.

"Let's not talk about that. I think it's a little more complicated now than I had anticipated."

"You mean that he came after me again?"

"Something like that. Just be a doctor," he told her.

"Why is it that suddenly sounds easy?" she quipped and he laughed. She put away the teacup and then went up to her bedroom. First, she decided to take a warm bath. Then, she would try to sleep. If a dozen or so medical files didn't parade through her brain, and if the events of the last few days didn't return in vivid replay, and if she didn't think about the spat she and Curt had in the hospital parking lot, she might actually get some.

A warm soak never felt as good as it does this moment, she thought after she lowered herself through the bubbles generated by her bath oils. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was almost asleep in the tub when she heard it, a distinct rap on her front door downstairs. She listened and then she heard it again and sat up quickly.

Should I ignore it or get out, put on a robe, and see who it was? Or, maybe I should just call for the sheriff's patrol. She was expecting no one. That was for sure.

She heard the door knocker again. There was no doubt about it. The sound reverberated through the house as if it could travel through the very foundation and frame. She made a quick decision to ignore it and to make that phone call to the sheriff's patrol.

Still dripping wet, she was at the phone in her bedroom. The dispatcher knew who she was immediately and assured her a car would be in her driveway in less than ten minutes. All the lights were off downstairs, but anyone could see her bedroom light was still on, she thought. She turned it off and, still wrapped in only a large bath towel, went to the front window and parted the curtain. She saw an automobile in the driveway. Unfortunately, out here, there were no street lights and she didn't have a light on the outside of the house. Still, as her eyes grew more accustomed to the shadows and the clouds parted a bit to permit more starlight, she realized it was Curt's car.