Chapter 34 So What's the Plan

The team of investigators sat around the conference table as they reviewed their cases. They did not have time to do the normal case review the day before because most of them had meetings out of the office. A few minutes into the meeting Abbi entered the room and presented Terry with a folder containing information on Doctor Joyce Amy Zachery.

"I got as much information on the doctor as I could. When I saw her photo online, I thought she was a model or something. She has both beauty and brains, that is a combination that can't be beat", Abbi said with admiration. "Who is she? Why are we checking her out? Is she a new client?" Abbi asked in succession.

Terry contemplated the questions as he wondered how much information to share with the team. Deciding that it was better to be upfront instead of keeping secretes from his co-workers especially as somehow things eventually came out anyway, Terry decided to answer Abbi's questions without being vague.

"To answer your questions, Abbs, you already know who she is as you compiled the file on her for me. We are checking her out because she has been ….. for want of a better expression … stalking Kami. And finally, no she is not a new client even though she met Hildy yesterday under the pretext of being a new client", Terry said as he sat back to wait for his team's reaction as he was sure they all heard him.

In unison they all looked up and said;

"What?"

"Stalking Kami?"

"Excuse me?"

"Repeat that?"

Terry looked around the table, leaned forward and respond with, "Yes you all heard me correctly. The woman who I asked Abbi to compile the file on is a doctor from California and she is the one who had an appointment with our firm yesterday. She specifically asked to meet with the female owner … Hildy … and in the meeting which was conducted at the same Hilton we had our Thanksgiving Day get together last year, she informed Hildy that she wants what she claims is hers". Terry made air quotes with his fingers as he said the words, "Quote, unquote … the claim she believes she has is on one Kami Keefer", Terry ended the explanation and once more leaned back in his chair.

There was utter silence around the room for at least twenty seconds as everyone moved from initial shock, to disbelief, to wondering if there was some sort of connection between the woman and Kami.

"Terry, when you spoke to Hildy about this doctor, did she give any indication that the woman might be potentially violent?", Edgar asked.

"I spoke to her yesterday afternoon after the meeting she had with the doctor, and then this morning. I had basic information to go on yesterday but this morning Hildy filled me in on more details. It does not appear that the doctor is violent or mentally deranged in any form or fashion", Terry answered.

"I do not understand this Terry. What are you not telling us?" David asked with concern in his voice. For all his goofing around and teasing of Hildy and Kami, he was truly a caring and very protective man towards them.

Terry looked at David and said, "I will tell you what Hildy shared with me between yesterday and today. Apparently, several years ago, the goodly doctor was Kami's old girlfriend. They were a couple for a few years before Kami walked out of the relationship. She and the doctor have not had any communication since then. Neither Hildy or Kami understands why after years of no contact, the doctor makes an appearance now. And not just an appearance but one where she seems determine to take back what she sees as her possession".

Once again, the work family sat silently as they each processed the information that was being presented to them.

"I wonder what prompted the doctor to communicate now?" Abbi asked with a concerned expression on her face.

"Are you sure there has been no communication between Kami and this doctor over the years?" Edgar asked.

Terry lifted his shoulders as he shrugged, and then shook his head. "I am telling you what Hildy told me. I asked that exact question while I had her on the phone this morning. She was adamant that Kami has not been communicating with Dr Zachary. As a matter of fact, she told me that Kami fainted when she told her who the mystery client was yesterday".

"Fainted? Fainted? Isn't that a bit extreme? I know it must have been a shock to hear an old lover met your new lover …. but to faint?" David asked with a frown on his face.

"I wonder why they broke up?" Jim questioned.

"I am not sure. But we have known Kami for almost a year now and we know the kind heart she has. For her to walk away from the relationship and not look back as Hildy said, indicates to me that something went really wrong between her and the doctor". Terry added to the discussion.

"Do you think Kami still has feelings for the doctor?" Abbi asked in a worried tone. "Maybe that is why she fainted".

Everyone remained quiet for a few moments as they thought about Abbi's concern. Then Edgar shared his thoughts on Abbi's question.

"I do not know what went on in the past, but I know what is going on in the present. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Kami loves Hildy more than anyone in this world. You just have to take one look at her when she looks at Hildy to know that. Maybe this doctor ill-treated her, and it was fear that caused the fainting. Maybe she was abused".

"I never got the impression that Kami is the sort of person who would just sit back and take someone hitting on her. She is too much of a confident person for that" Jim refuted Edgar's supposition.

"That is true but remember this relationship with the doctor was several years ago according to Terry. Who knows what Kami's confidence level was like in those days", David wondered.

Once more everyone stayed quiet as they looked at the situation from different angles.

Abbi took a deep breath and asked, "So what's the plan?"

Before Terry could formulate a response, they heard footsteps in the outer office and the voices of their work sisters. Hildy and Kami entered the conference room and greeted everyone albeit in subdued tones.

Abbi got up immediately and went to Kami and hugged her as she asked, "Are you alright?"

In any other work environment this level of physical contact between officer workers would be frowned upon. However, in the investigation firm, the team cared about each other as a family, and hugs, embraces, and words of affection were part and parcel of who they were as a team.

Kami appreciated the hug and returned it wholeheartedly. At the same time, she thought to herself: "I wonder what Terry and the guys are thinking about me? I knew Hildy discussed the situation involving Jaz with Terry as she wanted him to find out everything, he could about what is presently going on in Jaz's life. It is not surprising that Terry told the team about Jaz. First it was Dexter who crossed my path from out of the blue and was hurtful in his words to Hildy. Now Jaz is here. I wonder if they think Jaz will also try to pull Hildy down? I know I have no reason to feel embarrassed, but I do. It is like my past has these lovers who can be very calculating and unkind. I wonder if this fact will lower me in their eyes?"

As Kami slowly pulled away from the warm hug Abbi gave her, she saw genuine concern in the young investigator's eyes as she looked at her.

Clearing her throat, she answered the question in a soft voice, "I am fine. Thank you for asking, Abbi".

Never one to beat around the bush, David jumped right in feet first in a way that could mistakenly be seen as if he was blaming Kami for the previous day's events. "Kami, what the heck is going on? What does this doctor really want? Why contact you now after so long? Has she ever given any indication in the distant or recent past that she was still interested in rekindling a relationship with you?"

David was on a roll but before he could ask anything further Hildy put a stop to it.

"Whoa, hold on David, I do not like your tone of voice", Hildy stated, in a voice that was stern and deeper than usual. She looked at her brother with eyes that morphed from warm forest green into green ice. The men around the room, all avid comic book readers in their boyhood days, immediately associated the colour of Hildy's eyes with the images of kryptonite made popular in the Superman comic books.

David immediately got defensive. "What tone? I am only asking what we all want to know Hills".

Terry, realizing that things could get a trifle heated took control of their meeting by deliberately speaking in a calm manner, "OK everyone, let's not go at each other here. We have work to do. We need to put our heads together and figure out what Dr. Zachery wants. We have to determine if she is a real threat to Kami in any way or form, and we have to decide how to go forward".

Kami sat and listened to the back and forth over the next few minutes as Hildy fielded all the questions and queries from the team as they tried to get a handle on the situation. As one minute turned into two and three, she felt more and more uncomfortable. The voices around her faded as her mind was slowly flooding with memories of her life with Jaz. Some memories were happy, and some were not. Kami acknowledged that she had grown both emotionally and spiritually in the years since she ended her relationship with Jaz. She could not imagine ever being the person she once was, the person who would sacrifice so much of herself to feel loved and accepted by her partner. She was the person who would silently take subtle verbal put downs that over time became more obvious just because she wanted to please. Well no more.

Kami remembered the telephone conversation with Nana that finally broke through the rut she allowed herself to settle in with Jaz. She remembered Nana's words like it was yesterday rather than several years ago. Her conversations with her parents and grandparents were few and far between, not because she did not want to speak to them but because at first, she felt they did not particularly like Jaz, and were being too hard on her. Then as time went by and Jaz's perfectionist, controlling personality began to become more and more dominant in their relationship, Kami felt embarrassed to let her family know they were right, and she was wrong.

The conversation that gave her the courage to do what she knew she needed to do was the one in which Nan reminded her of who she was.

"Kami, I did not call to argue with you. There is nothing I can tell you about how I feel towards Jaz that you do not already know. But I think there is something you have forgotten my Darling", Nana said.

Kami listened to her grandmother and felt love mixed with irritation. She knew she was in a relationship that she should not be in and having her grandmother remind her of this fact was not what she needed to hear. But years of being respectful to Nana was not easily pushed to the side, so she asked; "What have I forgotten Nana?"

Kathrine paused as she organized her thoughts before softly responding to her granddaughter.

"You have forgotten whose you are".

Kami frowned into the telephone. "Whose I am? What are you talking about Nana?"

"Yes, whose you are", Nana replied. "My, darling, you are precious, and you are loved beyond what your mind and heart can comprehend. You were created in the image of Heavenly Father and He would do anything for you if you just ask and believe. He loves you with an everlasting love, my Darling. You are His and He will be yours if you would let Him. He wants you to be happy Kami. He wants you to achieve the potential that He knows you are capable of. The life you are presently living is not honouring the One who loves you more than you know. It is time to acknowledge whose you are and treat yourself worthy of the One who loves you".

That telephone conversation with her grandmother all those years ago was the catalyst that made Kami honestly look at what her life had become and where it was heading. The very next day she packed her bag and walked away from a life she had with Jaz. That was five almost six years ago, and never once did Kami regret her decision.

Kami was brought back to the present when she heard Jim ask, "So what's the plan?".

Before Hildy could respond, Kami said;

"The plan is I am going to call Jaz and set up a meeting with her, and see what she is up to. Then I will let her know that whatever it is I am not interested. She cannot come back into my life five almost six years later and disrupt it without repercussions". With that Kami got up and walked out of the conference room.