To Agnes' surprise, she was glad for Joanie's presence in the townhouse Sunday night. Two floors above her, sharing the floor with Patrick, who'd decided to take the other bedroom rather than lay out in front of the TV after all, she provided the security Agnes couldn't provide him from her bedroom on the main floor, where Melissa lay in her arms, so she could feel confident enough to go to sleep that night. After the previous night's devastating news, she hadn't been sure she'd sleep at all, but she figured that she hadn't gotten any the night before and was now crashing from pure exhaustion, the warmth of her daughter in her arms acting like an anchor to pull her under the surface of slumber.

She woke Monday feeling rested and content with Melissa beside her; the air mattress, though low to the ground, was still wide enough to accommodate both of them. Then a vague feeling of alarm settled on her as she realized she was supposed to be working today, but then she remembered she'd called yesterday and let her supervisor know her ex-husband had died and she needed to make arrangements, not that she was necessarily in mourning but she needed some leave to be there for her children. As relief settled in that she didn't have to go anywhere today, that she could laze with her kids around this townhouse so generously offered to them by her ex-boyfriend and his wife, a fresh wave of grief rolled in like the tide, and she realized she had been lying to herself as much as to her supervisor during that call; she was in mourning, if not for the Patrick who'd cheated on her and killed a man to save his adulteress, then at least for the Patrick who'd been a good father to her children, and who'd once been the kind man who'd loved her in his way.

She got out of bed as gently as she could so as not to wake Melissa, then checked the time on her phone. Her parents would be up by now. She went upstairs and called them in the living room, checking in and making sure no one had paid them a visit last night. They assured her all was well and were happy to hear the same from her. 

"This friend of yours, Al," Mom said. "I can't shake the feeling that his generosity is outsized for a friend from work. Are you sure there's nothing more to it?"

After their breakthrough yesterday, Agnes felt like she owed her the truth. "I'll be honest with you," she said. "When I was still living at home, before I went to Kelowna, Al and I were dating."

"I thought so. Just from the looks you shared, I knew there was a story."

"Are you angry at me for not telling you before?"

Mom sighed. "Anger is a useless emotion to be feeling at the moment, when you're mourning your husband. So much has happened since you went to Kelowna, why argue about something that happened so long ago?"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't think you'd approve of him. I wanted him to come to Kelowna with me, but he had to stay and look after his mother because his dad was sick."

Mom harrumphed and said, "He sounds like someone I might approve of, if he looks after his parents."

Agnes knew this complaint of old. "I wanted to look after you by moving you with me to this townhouse."

"I know, I know," Mom said resignedly. "If he'd gone with you, or if you stayed, do you think you might have married?"

Agnes thought about it for a moment and said, "If I stayed, I would have had to tell you about him before we married, and I didn't have the courage to tell you, so I don't know, honestly. If he went with me, then we definitely would have. Easier to send you a wedding invitation from Kelowna, like I did when I married Patrick."

Mom sighed. "We really did a number on you, didn't we."

"You made it clear that you wanted me to marry a Chinese boy from your congregation. I was so afraid to disappoint you that I didn't even have the courage to talk to a boy until I was in college."

"Is that where you met Al? Because you both work at the library?"

"Yes. He was always at VPL. That was another reason he couldn't go with me. He'd just started there at the time."

Mom was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "And now he's married to another? Was that what he said?"

"Yes. His wife's name is Rachel, and they have two adopted children. I met them last night, and they were lovely to Patrick and Melissa."

She was quiet for another moment before saying, "I understand your coming back home to get away from Patrick after he cheated on you. I hope, though, that you're not planning on making the same mistake Patrick made. Adultery is a serious sin, whether you're Christian or not."

Agnes rolled her eyes only because she knew Mom wouldn't see it. "I will admit I was hoping he'd be unattached when I reunited with him, that once I divorced Patrick I could be with him again, but I know I'm too late now, and I have to accept that."

"Hm." Mom didn't sound convinced. Agnes couldn't blame her, because she wasn't convinced herself.

After she hung up, she went upstairs to check on Patrick. The boy was still sleeping. There was no reason to wake the kids yet. She could just enjoy this moment to herself. 

She found that Joanie's door was closed as well, and wondered if the woman wasn't going into work today. She could understand if she wasn't. She turned the knob slowly and leaned inside, and saw her sprawled on her bed. She was wearing a t-shirt and boxer shorts, and Agnes got a good look at her long, muscular legs before looking away. The woman was so physically strong; was this the kind of woman Patrick was really attracted to? She'd never actually met his other partner, Heather Redfern. Maybe she was like this too. Agnes, in her full pyjamas, felt like a little girl in comparison.

She thought she hadn't made any noise, but something must have alerted Joanie, because she sprang out of bed, immediately on the alert. Her face was a mask of panic. 

"I'm sorry," Agnes said, hands raised in surrender. "I didn't mean to wake you."

Joanie took a few seconds to grasp who she was. When she did, she sagged as the adrenaline drained from her body. "No, it's okay," she said. "I'm just jumpy."

"Did you get any sleep?"

Joanie shrugged. "A little. I keep having nightmares about the explosion."

"I'm sorry you had to witness it."

Joanie nodded and sank back on the mattress.

"I was just checking if you were still here," Agnes said. "I'll let you go back to sleep."

Joanie shrugged. "I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep. What time is it?"

"Nine."

"I might as well get up."

"Why don't I make us coffee? I got groceries yesterday while I was out with Sunny."

Joanie smiled gratefully. "That would be wonderful, thank you."

Agnes descended the stairs and filled the coffee maker. As it finished brewing, Joanie appeared in the kitchen, now with sweat pants on. The two sat at the dining room table and dressed their coffees. They sipped and looked anywhere but at each other.

Finally, Agnes said, "So, what drew you to Patrick?"

Joanie blinked at her for a moment, then said, "Are you asking out of curiosity or accusation?"

"Curiosity."

"I feel awkward discussing this with his ex, technically his widow," Joanie said, squirming.

"Indulge me."

Joanie sighed. "Well, mainly he was taller than me, and that's rare. I'm just not attracted to smaller men. He was built like a brick wall, so he was strong enough to take me on. Then he had a boyish charm, and he hero-worshipped me, which was flattering."

"Ah, yes, I heard you were a hero."

Joanie sipped her coffee for a moment, then said, "When I first met him, he told me he still loved you, that he wanted to try saving the marriage."

Agnes felt her face crumple and furiously wiped her eyes. "Fuck."

"If I knew you still wanted to be married to him, I wouldn't have dated him."

Agnes shook her head. "No. I was done with him, but it still hurts, him claiming to still love me when he had bloody Heather in Kelowna. He didn't contest the divorce, did he."

"Did you want him to?"

Agnes sighed. "No. It had to be done, but it's still sad, all those years wasted--"

"Not wasted," Joanie interrupted. "You have two beautiful children."

"When I could have stayed here," Agnes continued as if Joanie hadn't spoken. "I could have stayed with the man I really wanted to marry if I'd been a little braver, if I'd been able to stand up to my parents."

Joanie eyed her over the rim of her cup as she sipped. "You mean Al?"

"Yeah," Agnes said, sighing.

Joanie shook her head ruefully. "I once joked with him about having revenge sex, but he's not even my type. Definitely not tall enough."

Agnes frowned, feeling a surge of jealousy so fierce it was all she could do not to fly at the taller and stronger woman; incredibly, she hadn't felt this angry when the woman was dating her own ex-husband. "That statement was apropos of nothing," she said. "What do you mean, revenge sex?"

"Sorry. I only told him that because I was angry at Joe."

"Joe? Lauren's husband?"

Joanie's face fell. "Oh. Shit. I shouldn't be telling you this. You're really not going to think well of me if I tell you."

"Joanie, you have nothing to answer for where Patrick is concerned. We were done when you started dating him. I don't think poorly of you."

"Well, anyway, Joe and I are over, so it's not--"

Agnes blinked in surprise. "Joe and you?" 

Joanie actually looked sheepish. "Joe and Lauren have an... arrangement. He lets her see Rachel from time to time, while she lets him see me."

Agnes blinked in surprise. "Oh! Well, I actually know about Lauren and Rachel. They actually told me. Now I know why Joe is okay with it. And now I know why you were attracted to Patrick. They were two of a kind, weren't they."

"Only that they were both big guys. Personality wise they were very different. Patrick didn't cheat on me, for one thing."

"Well, you were dating for, what, two months? If you had more time, he probably would have." Suddenly, the meaning of Joanie's words struck her. "Wait... Joe cheated on you? Not with Lauren, right?"

"No. With Rachel."

"Rachel?!" Agnes squawked. She couldn't help herself. "Does Al know?"

"Yeah, he does now, because I told him." 

"And... what? He's okay with it?"

Joanie harrumphed. "Well, it's not like he can be sanctimonious about it."

"Right, because he slept with Lauren."

Now it was Joanie's turn to be surprised. "You know about that?"

"I guessed it, and when I told Al my suspicions he didn't deny it."

"Jesus Christ," Joanie said, shaking her head. "I mean, when I entered this arrangement with Joe and Lauren, I knew it was unorthodox, and I actually like Lauren a lot, you might be surprised to know."

"That does surprise me, but I guess if you've made this arrangement work for some time, you'd probably have to like her."

"We were classmates at the Justice Institute of BC. I was maid of honour at her wedding."

"You're shitting me," Agnes said. "And now you're sharing her spouse with her?"

"Was."

"Okay."

Joanie took another sip and said, "She was with me, you know, when I got shot."

"Oh! You mean, when you saved Logan?"

"Yeah. We'd been staking out the hostage takers when a sniper from a rival gang suddenly took aim at Logan, because they wanted to wipe out a witness to a previous shootout that ended up killing Logan's biological father."

"Jesus," Agnes breathed.

"So, I shot him. I didn't even call out a warning. It was against the rules of engagement, and Lauren is the only other person who knows about it. She's never told a soul.  I'm not even sure why I'm telling you this, except to illustrate how that incident brought us closer."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Wait, if you shot the guy, how did you get shot?"

"My shot alerted the hostage takers, who were already trigger happy, and they started shooting toward the sound of the shot. I was unlucky enough to be hit, probably because I make such a big target. I got my medal under false pretences, because I didn't follow procedure."

"It was still brave of you, Joanie. The sniper probably would have shot you if you had called a warning. Either way, you were shot protecting that boy. You still earned that medal."

Joanie waved off her reassurance and finished her coffee. "Anyway, back to the arrangement. When I made it, I assumed I'd only share Joe with Lauren."

"I get it. Joe went against the terms of the arrangement."

"Yeah. That's another reason why I decided to date Patrick, because, if Joe was going to take another lover, why shouldn't I?" Joanie huffed and said, "Why am I telling you all this? I barely know you."

"Sometimes it's easiest to unburden yourself to a stranger."

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is, I made a mistake getting involved with Joe, because he and his friends from Queensborough are all wrapped up in this weird incestuous thing where they're all sleeping with each other's spouse and everyone seems okay with it. I guess my only consolation is it wasn't always this way, that I didn't see what was coming. I'm telling you this so you don't make the same mistake."

"Me?" Agnes said in disbelief.

Joanie nodded sadly. "You still love him, don't you. Al. If you go after him, the most you're going to get from him is an offer to be just another link in the whole chain. You're not going to get him on his own. He's not going to leave Rachel and Lauren."

Agnes barked a laugh. It amazed her that this was the second time she was getting this warning today. "Don't worry, I have no designs on him." 

Joanie was about to reply, but footfalls on the stairs silenced her. The word, "Mom?" called from above and below.

Patrick and Melissa emerged on to the second floor, saw their mother with the strange woman, and stopped to stare. Agnes stood and opened her arms to them. They walked over to her and huddled against her. 

"You weren't in bed when I woke up," Melissa said. "I was scared you went away."

"Oh, sweetie, I'd never do that. I was just sitting here chatting with Joanie, you remember her from yesterday, right?"

"You're Dad's special friend," Patrick said.

Joanie nodded sadly. "I was, yes."

They kept staring at her, and Joanie cleared her throat and asked, "What do you all have planned for the day?"

They both shrugged. Agnes said, "I can't make any... arrangements yet, I don't think, not until the authorities let me know."

Joanie nodded. "I imagine it will be a while. You know it will be a police funeral, don't you? They'll be coming from all over to see him off and console the widow."

Agnes hadn't even considered that. Shit. She still counted as the widow even if they were divorced, because he hadn't married again. They'd be consoling her. Just the thought of it made her skin crawl. She did not want to be the centre of attention. "Do you think they'll make all the arrangements, then?" she asked.

"Probably. In the meantime, do you all want to take a drive?"

"Where?" Patrick said, suddenly interested.

"Anywhere you want. You're from Kelowna, right? Has your mom taken you around the Lower Mainland?"

"We've mostly just been at school and our grandparents' house."

"Dad took us to Terra Nova Park once, that was fun," Melissa said.

"Why don't I show you a few places I liked going to when I was a kid," Joanie said. "There's the Kids Market at Granville Island, there's Science World, there's the Vancouver Aquarium..."

The kids got all excited, and they quickly ate breakfast and got changed. Joanie took them all in her truck. There was plenty of room for the kids in her back seat, and Agnes appreciated being driven. Before she drove off, Joanie checked under the truck, and Agnes knew why, but neither of them mentioned it in front of the kids.

She appreciated, too, Joanie doing this simple kindness for her kids, giving them some fun to take their minds off their dad, but after they drove a while, Agnes wondered where she was taking them first. "Are we headed into New West?" she asked.

Joanie stared straight ahead as she answered, "I thought I'd take a quick detour to Patrick's house, to see how the investigation is going."

"Do you think that's wise?"

"It'll just be a few minutes."

They went over the Queensborough Bridge. Agnes remembered all the times she crossed over this bridge to get back on the 91 to get home after driving Al all the way to his house from Langara College. It had been a long trip, but for her it had been worth it just to be with him, hoping he would ask her out, the anticipation so thrilling, and when he finally did, it was like they were destined to be together. Why did she ever leave? Why couldn't she be brave enough to stand up to her parents? Why did she have to go all the way to Kelowna to feel like she could live her own life?

They pulled up to the Port Royal area of Queensborough, to the little house Patrick had bought. It was cute, and if he and Agnes had been looking for property together she would have picked it too. Funny, she'd never had the chance to choose her own house. Patrick had already bought his house in Kelowna when she met him. She'd made it her home, and she'd make this one her home once it was released to her.

An unmarked police car sat in front of the house, and yellow "Do Not Cross" tape was placed across the door. Joanie parked across the street from the house, and the two of them stared at it for a while.

"Mom, there's a playground right over there," Patrick said. "Can we go play for a bit?"

Agnes looked at Joanie, who shrugged and said, "I might just want to have a look at the street. I'll walk you all over and keep an eye on the house from there."

"Okay, then, let's go!" Agnes said, opening the door.

While the kids played, Agnes watched as Joanie walked the block, peering in every vehicle parked along the curb. She turned back to the kids having fun on the monkey bars, and wondered if Patrick had taken them here when they'd stayed with him, but she didn't want to ask them in case it made them emotional.

After about half an hour, Agnes thought they should be getting on if they wanted to go to at least one of the places Joanie promised to take them (she thought she might like to go shopping in Granville Island, actually, they had a great public market.) She was about to call Joanie back when she noticed the door to Patrick's house opening. Two plain clothes detectives exited the house, and when Joanie saw them she ran to greet them. They weren't Detectives Winning and Wainwright, the ones Agnes met yesterday, but two different detectives, one a fireplug of a man with spiky dirty blonde hair, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, the other a stunning olive-skinned woman with tight black curls cascading down to her shoulders, wearing a blue wool coat over grey slacks. They appeared to recognize Joanie, and chatted a while before they began walking over to the playground.

"Agnes," Joanie said. "I'd like you to meet Detectives Tracey and Goncalves of the New Westminster Police."

Agnes shook their hands. "It's nice to meet you."

"You're Patrick's widow," Tracey said. "Sergeant Mara told us."

"Yes, well, we'd just divorced, but I guess I am. Joanie was seeing him before he died."

Both detectives turned to Joanie, who blushed and said, "It's true."

"And you're both here together?" Goncalves asked with raised eyebrows.

"We've come to an understanding," Agnes said. "Joanie wasn't the reason I divorced him, anyway. I thought the Coquitlam RCMP were investigating the incident."

"Because this property is on our patch, we're cooperating as partners in IHIT, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team that serves the whole Lower Mainland," Tracey explained. "We're sharing the investigation, especially as this is the murder of a police officer."

"So, how do you know Joanie, if you're in different police forces?"

"Oh, well, Sergeant Mara was a witness in another case of ours," Goncalves said. "Oddly enough, it had to do with the previous owner of this very house. I was rude to her then, but after seeing her on TV giving that statement, I realize I owe her an apology."

Joanie waved that off. "You can make it up to me by telling me if there's been any suspicious activity on the street since you started looking at the house. I know you can't say anything about what you might have found in the house."

Tracey nodded. "I take it you've been in this house, if the two of you were dating?"

"Yes. Do you need to fingerprint me?"

"You'll be on file already, being in the police."

"Oh, right, we leave our privacy at the door when we serve the public. Now, I'm asking about suspicious activity on the street because we're worried for Agnes and her family's safety once this house is released to them."

Tracey and Goncalves looked at each other, then back at them. "You think the perpetrators responsible might target the family too?" Tracey asked.

"It's possible," Agnes said. "I gave a deposition that may end up implicating the person who might have been responsible for hiring the bombers."

"Tying up loose ends?" Goncalves asked.

"Exactly."

Tracey said, "Well, we haven't noticed any parties paying too close attention to the house. Our retired colleague Detective Rhodes, who lives in the neighbourhood, has come around to gab with us about the fact that this place must be cursed, being a house owned by two men who've been murdered..." He looked past Agnes, and Agnes knew he was making sure the kids were still playing in the playground and not listening in. "... but we don't think he's suspicious of anything in particular. We also haven't noticed any vehicles showing up repeatedly that don't belong to neighbours."

"Okay," Joanie said. "But will you let us know if that changes?"

The two detectives looked at each other again. "We really should communicate through official channels," Tracey said. "The Coquitlam RCMP should be in contact with Agnes if there have been any developments."

"I understand that," Joanie said. "The thing is, if they're still out there, and Agnes and her family take this house, I want to be there to protect them if they're threatened. I want to be the one who takes them down if they dare show up here."

Goncalves' eyes widened. "Sergeant Mara, I respect you, and I respect that you want payback for what happened to Constable Marinville, but this isn't an action movie. If there is a threat to his family, we will have a whole team of police keeping an eye on the house. It would be too dangerous for you to take them on alone."

Joanie looked like she wanted to argue, but Agnes put a hand on her arm to calm her. Finally, Joanie took a deep breath and sighed. "Fine. But I want to be on that team. I want first right of refusal."

Tracey smiled fondly at her. "The Hero of the Battle of Barnet wants to be the hero again. I get it. If we put something together, maybe an intersquad team, put your name in with your supervisor. They may refuse, because you might be too close to this, but you never know."

Joanie smirked. "Someone's been researching me."

"Guilty as charged," Tracey said. To Agnes' surprise, Goncalves threw him a withering look. Was someone a little jealous? It made Agnes wonder if the two detectives were more than just partners. Heck, she was inured to police romances by now, so it wouldn't surprise her.

Thanks for reading this far! A conversation that was a long time coming. If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. If anything doesn't ring true about police procedure, leave a comment and let me know; I strive for authenticity.

To see how Al's doing with both a new family member and an ex-girlfriend in the same workplace, and an offer to go back into the lion's den, click on "Continue reading."