Kyla’s Secret

Corrine’s homemade chocolate–peanut butter cookies were divine. Kyla had eaten four of them and could’ve had a couple more, but she didn’t want to seem rude or make a pig of herself, so she washed the ones she’d eaten down with some bottled water. “That was totally bringing a slice of heaven to the Land of Boring.” “Oh yeah?” Corrine said challengingly. “Let’s see if you say that in a few minutes.” “I’m ready.” The officer peered out the curtains, then said, “Come on. Follow me, but be very quiet.” “Okay,” Kyla said with a nod, and stepped out of the room while Corrine locked it behind them. They began to walk just as Corrine’s walkie-talkie began to squawk, so she quickly reached down and switched it off until they were inside the gym. “Where’s the light in this place?” Kyla asked, just as the large room flooded with light. “Right here,” Corrine said matter-of-factly. “I know the place well.” When Kyla saw Corrine take off her service jacket, she pulled off the hoodie she wore. “Brr, it’s chilly in here.” “It won’t be in a minute,” Corrine assured her. “I have to keep my utility belt on, but come on.” Kyla followed the officer in a brisk walk down one of the long sides of the gym. “What are we going to do?” “Right now we’re warming up our muscles.” “So you know something about this sort of thing, huh?” Smiling, Corrine said, “After we make one complete circle, we’ll break into a light run.” “Okay,” said Kyla with enthusiasm as she moved alongside Corrine. A few minutes later, Corrine sped up, and Kyla was both alarmed and dismayed by how hard it was to keep up. “You call this a light run?” Corrine laughed and put a finger to her lips to indicate that she should talk more softly. Kyla didn’t mean to shout, but her ragged breathing made it hard to control the volume of her voice. Kyla hadn’t even made one full circle when she had to stop. “Oh my God,” she sputtered breathlessly, “this is impossible.” But Corrine not only kept going, she sped up even faster. Kyla watched, both impressed and envious, as the older woman easily glided around the gym several times. When Corrine finally stopped several rounds later, she barely seemed out of breath. “No fair. No fair at all! You’re even doing this with the weight of your gun and your flashlight and whatever the hell else you’re carrying on that thing. I’m embarrassed.” “Don’t be,” Corrine said as she grabbed the water bottle she’d brought along. “It’s all about endurance. The more you do, the longer you go. If you decide to stick with it, it will come in time.” “No wonder you have such an awesome body.” Corrine smiled in a way that said she was flattered as Kyla twirled around playfully, enjoying the space she now had around her after being cooped up for what seemed like forever. “Come on,” Corrine said after she screwed the cap back onto her water bottle. “Where to now?” “Back to the room.” “Oh no, already?” “Yes, I’m afraid so, little lady. I know this is fun and all that, but technically I’m not even supposed to do this much, so I don’t want to push it.” Kyla suddenly felt guilty for seeming to take advantage of Corrine’s kindness. “Well, thanks for going out of your way for me like this.” “No problem. We can do a little here and there.” By 9 p.m. Kyla was yawning constantly. “I hate to fall asleep on you since I enjoy your company so much, but I’ve been up since five, as you know, and couldn’t fall back asleep with Joe sitting here.” “I understand, babe, but before you go to sleep, could I ask you a question?” “Sure.” “If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, I’ll definitely understand, but do you think I could play some games on your laptop while you sleep?” “Oh, of course you can,” Kyla said. “Here, I’ve got tons of games in here.” Corrine looked over her shoulder as Kyla opened a folder of games. “Oh, thank you very, very much, love.” “You can also go online. You’ll find a ton of free gaming sites where you don’t need to register or anything.” “Yeah, I know of some. Thank you again, dear. I’ll check it out later on when I get tired of reading my book. Would the TV bother you if it were soft?” “No, not at all,” Kyla said, going to pee and brush her teeth. When she returned, she was wearing a long sleep shirt. “You gonna sing me to sleep or something?” Corrine laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t sing.” Kyla giggled as she slid beneath the warm blankets. “You’re okay, Officer, you’re okay.” Corrine smiled and seemed to blush, but Kyla couldn’t say for sure in the dim lighting. “Sweet dreams, amoureux.” Kyla yawned and closed her eyes. Even though she was facing the wall and Corrine was probably engrossed in her book, she still couldn’t help but feel weird. It wasn’t every day that she fell asleep with someone sitting just a few feet away that she was totally hot for. Even if it wasn’t someone she was hot for—well, it was just plain weird. She finally drifted off to sleep at around ten and awoke just before two to pee. Corrine was pulling something from the mini refrigerator and turned to face her as she sleepily walked by. Just as she was passing, Corrine pulled her close for a second and kissed her on the head. Kyla was so delighted by the simple yet loving gesture from the sexy cop that she was surprised she could fall back asleep as quickly as she did. Nonetheless, she flopped down on the bed facing the table. Her monitor was turned at an angle so that she could just barely make out what was on the screen. Still in the same position, she awoke again an hour later and half-opened her eyes for a minute. She had a fleeting realization that Corrine appeared to be gazing at a file within her word processor, but she was asleep again before her brain had a chance to fully process what she’d seen. She was vaguely aware of Corrine leaving later on and then Joe coming on duty, but was still too tired to care. She slept until eight-thirty. Joe was polite enough to remain quiet until after she used the bathroom. “You missed breakfast,” he said. “That’s okay. I was beat.” “There’s a Danish and some coffee for you over there.” “Oh, thanks. I really appreciate it.” Joe smiled and then politely went back to the paper he was reading. Kyla ate her Danish, drank her coffee, and then took a shower. She was dressed in baby blue sweats and ready to take on another boring day where the minutes seemed like hours. The countdown to Corrine’s shift seemed like it would never arrive. Shortly after lunchtime, an email alert popped up as she was playing yet another round of Solitaire. Again it appeared to be from an unknown sender, this time with a different name. “Hey, babe, how ya doin’?” “Who is this?” Kyla promptly typed back, hoping the person was still in their inbox and would reply. They were, and they replied with, “I’m the keeper of your secrets.” Kyla mentally rolled her eyes and then began to type. “Did you find me through my blog?” “I found you through fate,” came the reply. “That’s not good enough. Fate or not, I want to know exactly how you found me. Is this just someone I know playing a joke on me?” She stared at the monitor for what seemed like several minutes after she pressed the send button. Just when she thought she wasn’t going to get a reply, the little red flag on her virtual mailbox was up again. “I’m no joke.” “But WHO are you?” “Someone who knows more about you than you want anyone anywhere to know about you.” Kyla thought a moment, then she wrote, “You know you’re full of shit, and you know how I know you’re full of shit? I know it because anyone who can’t simply come out and identify themselves truthfully is obviously not for real. So take whatever ‘secret’ you think you’re protecting and shove it up your ass, okay?” “But you need me.” “You’re right, I do need you. I need you to go choke on a chicken bone or something.” “Do you believe in karma?” “Yeah, karma will get you for being such a stupid, dumber-than-dumb pest.” “What if it’s getting you right now?” “If you’re my karma, then there must be a mistake. Nothing I could have ever done could have earned me such an idiot. I’m only entertaining you right now because I don’t have anything better to do at the moment.” “Are you sure you didn’t earn me? You’re in that room for a reason, you know.” The first tendrils of alarm seeped through Kyla’s body, flowing from somewhere deep within the pit of her stomach up to her chest. She thought to turn to Joe just a few feet away but remained transfixed on the text before her. Choosing her words carefully, she typed, “Okay, so you’re not a random joker. What do you want?” “I know your secret, Kyla.” “WHAT secret, goddamn it!” “I’m just saying that accidents happen.” “Are you threatening me?” “No, not at all.” “Well, it sure sounded like you were implying I would have an accident.” “You did.” “Getting tired of these riddles. Either spit it out, or I’m signing off. What secret? What accident?” “I know you killed her by accident, Kyla.”