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Dani was incredible. Gemma was surprised at how much she liked her already, at how quickly she had taken root in her mind and heart. One date and she was soaring, daring even to let her thoughts roam into the scary realm of marriage. Of course, it had to be too good to be true. Dani had to be too good to be true. There was some deep, dark secret she was hiding, surely. Gemma cautioned herself to expect that, but her hopes still flew to the heavens.
Again Dani’s number just rang and rang. “What the…”
“What’s the matter?”
Gemma jerked her head around to see Lois enter the cubicle.
“I thought you were gone.”
“I forgot my sunglasses.” Lois snatched them from the top of her disorderly desk. “Why are you cursing at your phone?”
“I’m trying to get hold of somebody. I have a…an appointment with this police officer. I wanted to tell her I’d be late. She’s not answering her cell phone and there’s no voice mail. It’s the only number I have for her.”
“Did you get burgled or something?”
“No, it’s…it’s nothing. Just a car accident I witnessed.” Gemma had no intention of telling Lois anything about Dani. At least not until they were married, and then she’d tell everybody. But until then, she’d keep it to herself. She didn’t want people asking questions or offering sympathy if it didn’t work out.
“Just call the police department,” suggested Lois. “They can always relay a message to one of the officers.”
“Thanks. That’s a good idea.”
Lois smiled and settled the sunglasses over her nose. “See you tomorrow.”
Gemma looked up the non-emergency number for the San Francisco Police Department. After being transferred twice, she finally got someone who said he could help her.
“I need to get a message to one of your officers,” she explained. “It’s important and I have to be sure she gets it before she leaves for the day.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said. “Do you have a badge number?”
“No, but I have her name. It’s Daniella Barsetti.”
“Hold on one moment,” he said.
She waited impatiently, tapping her toe on the floor.
“How do you spell that last name, ma’am?”
She spelled it for him, just as she’d seen it on Dani’s name tag. Another minute passed before he said, “I’m sorry, ma’am, there’s no officer with that name.”
“That’s not possible. Can you check again?”
“Ma’am, I’m looking right here at the database. There’s no Daniella Barsetti. There’s no Barsetti at all. Could it be another department, like Daly City or South San Francisco?”
Gemma was stunned and unable to speak.
“Ma’am?” asked the officer.
She roused herself enough to say, “Sorry. I must have made a mistake. Thank you.” She hung up and slumped in her desk chair, dumbfounded.
What did this mean? she asked herself. She had a uniform, a badge. Gemma was certain that the patch on her arm said “San Francisco Police.” Dani’s smile, her laugh, the way she tilted her head when she asked a question replayed in swift images in her mind. Was it all a lie?
Gemma finally realized she’d been sitting motionless for several minutes watching the cursor blink on the computer screen. She had to get this report done. After that, she could figure out how to deal with Dani. With every minute that went by, however, she got more and more angry, thinking about that smug, self-satisfied woman who had lied to her. She also remembered what Miko had said about how lesbians love a woman in a uniform. No doubt Dani had counted on that when she’d decided to impersonate a police officer. What made Gemma most angry was that she had fallen for it. Normally, she was the queen of suspicion. Nothing got by her. But she’d been duped by a pretty face. She was angry at herself for letting her defenses crumble so easily.
The woman was smooth, attractive and intelligent. She didn’t even need the uniform. She could walk into any lesbian bar and walk out with the best-looking woman in the place. Why had she put on that masquerade?
When Gemma finally finished her report and emailed it to her boss, she shut down her computer and tried Dani’s cell phone one more time. This time, surprisingly, it went to voice mail.
* * *
Dani wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the shower, then went to the bed where she had dropped several store bags. She had to figure out what to wear for tonight’s date. One of the items was colorfully gift-wrapped. That was her gift for Gemma, a brilliant red teddy that she knew would encourage Gemma to turn into a seductive vixen. Clothes could transform her mood and character so completely she seemed to have multiple personalities. She would have been fabulous onstage if she had been drawn to the theater.
Dani decided on black jeans and a gray long-sleeved blouse. She did not expect to be going out tonight. She was certain Gemma would plan to stay in, would greet her in bedroom clothes with a glass of wine. Good thing she’d had a big lunch, she decided, as there would be no dinner tonight.
Before dressing, she checked her phone on the nightstand where she’d plugged it in to recharge. It appeared to be working again. She had a voice mail message from Gemma. Thinking it would be a sweet precursor to their evening, she listened immediately. The message was the opposite of what she expected.
“You lied to me!” Gemma accused, her voice quavering with that particular type of anger that included a deep hurt. “The SFPD has never heard of you. You’re not a police officer. You think every girl falls for a woman in uniform? Is that your game? You can fuck the hell off, Officer Barsetti!”
Oh, shit! This was not good. Gemma hated liars. She hated falling for a con even worse.
Anxious to start damage control, Dani immediately called her. There was no answer, so she left a message.
“Gemma, it’s Dani. I didn’t lie to you. I am a police officer. It’s just that the truth…it’s so complicated. Please…please call me back. Let me see you.” Dani wanted so badly to say “I love you,” but she knew exactly how Gemma would take that. It would sound like a ploy so soon after they’d met, so she said, “I really like you, Gemma. Don’t throw this away over a misunderstanding.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, dejected. This was a major setback. Gemma would need time. She was hurt. She felt betrayed, and she didn’t get over things easily. Dani glanced around her miserable apartment, gauging the prospect of spending the evening here alone. But no matter where she went, even among family and friends, she would be alone. She was so sorry she’d ever picked up that stupid transporter beacon.
Chapter Fifteen
The landscaping around River Gardens, a thin strip of vegetation between the building and the sidewalk, was awash with color from blooming flowers and illuminated with borders of solar lights. Dani walked up the steps and waited for the leisurely automatic doors to open wide enough for her to pass through. She knew her way around the place, so she didn’t stop at the front desk or linger in the lobby with its oh-so-unconvincing eight-foot waterfall tumbling over polyurethane boulders. Besides, the woman on night shift rarely paid any attention to people coming and going. When you buzzed at the front gate, she automatically pressed the button to open it, not stopping to ask your business. The security here was nonexistent, despite the gates, the perimeter fencing and the cameras. But, then, Dani always figured the security, what there was of it, was designed to keep people in rather than out.
Instead of seeing Gemma again, as planned, she’d decided to visit her mother instead. Gemma had not returned her call, and Dani had decided to give her a little time to cool off. She just hoped Gemma wouldn’t take too much time, as Dani had no time to waste.
It was strange to be coming here again. In Dani’s reality, Harriet had moved from this place six months ago. She couldn’t be sure she’d be in the same room or have the same roommate, she realized, thinking of the treat she had brought for roommate Grace.
After scoping out the parking lot, she was reasonably sure Gemma was not here visiting Harriet, but she peered cautiously around the doorframe of her mother’s room first just to be sure. It was the right room after all. It was all just as it had been six months ago.
Harriet was sitting up in bed watching television. Her roommate, Grace, sat in her one chair reading a Sunset magazine through thick glasses. The two halves of the room were mirror images of one another, furnished with twin, adjustable hospital beds, side tables, one easy chair each and a wheelchair at the ready. The difference between them: Grace got the window and Harriet got proximity to the bathroom. At a certain age, Dani had been told, proximity to the bathroom was preferable to a view. Harriet’s pale, lined face was upturned to the TV mounted on the opposite wall where The Andy Griffith Show played. There was a faint, distracted smile on her lips. She wore a white gown with diminutive pastel flowers and a lace collar. Her hair, snowy and fine, had not been brushed today, which meant that Gemma had not been to visit.
“Hello!” Dani called boisterously, getting the attention of both women.
Harriet’s mouth fell open in delighted surprise. It was her characteristic greeting to one and all, an adaptation she had devised during her institutionalization, designed to persuade all comers that she recognized them even when she didn’t. Of course she couldn’t recognize Dani, not this time, but Dani was heartened by the response anyway. Even if Harriet didn’t know her, she would act like she did, and that was the closest thing Dani had seen to friendship in a while.
She slung one arm around Harriet’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Then she waved across the room. “How are you tonight, Grace?”
“Not bad, not bad.”
“What did you bring me?” asked Harriet, eyeing the paper bag Dani carried.
“You’ll see.” Dani put aside the bag and took a package of licorice twists to Grace.
“Ooh!” said Grace, taking the package. “Thank you, Poopsie! How did you know?”
Dani chuckled and returned to the chair beside Harriet’s bed. “For you,” she said, “I’ve got…” She pulled a six-pack of Sprite out of her bag, popped open a can and handed it to her mother-in-law. “And your favorite.” She held up a bag of Cheetos.
Harriet clapped her hands together and said, “Cheetos!” The joy on her face was like that of a child.
Who knew how long it had been in this reality since Harriet had cheesed up her fingers with her favorite salty snack? Gemma did not approve of soft drinks and Cheetos and had probably never brought them. Dani smiled to herself to think that if anybody could miss her since she’d been zapped out of this timeline, it would be Harriet.
She opened the Cheetos bag, then scooted the chair close to the bed so they were sitting side by side.
After she had sampled both the Sprite and the Cheetos, Harriet said, rather formally, “It’s so nice to see you again.”
Dani laughed. Harriet had learned a few things about appeasing people. One thing for sure, people hated it when you didn’t remember them. It was easier to pretend you did and not disappoint them. Dani settled back to watch TV. Opie and his “Pa” were having a serious chat in the sheriff’s office about responsibility.
“Do you like this show?” Harriet asked.
“Yes.”
“Me too.” After another swig of soda, Harriet let loose with a rip-roaring belch.
Both of them laughed, but Grace shook her head disapprovingly from the other side of the room, a piece of licorice dangling from her mouth.
Harriet couldn’t always remember words, so she had become less and less talkative as her disease progressed. Asking her questions usually led to frustration and sometimes anger, so Dani sat quietly by her side, eating Cheetos and licorice whips, watching the show and sharing smiles. It almost felt like she was back in her own life again. It felt great.
“Harriet,” she said when the show was over, “can I tell you about my week?”
“Yes, yes,” she nodded, looking hopeful. Another thing that was true when you were losing your faculties was that people didn’t care to have real conversations with you. So of course Harriet was starved for ordinary adult conversation.
Dani crossed her legs and got comfortable. “It started with a pursuit. I’m a cop, you see, and I was with an FBI agent named Bryan. Well, I thought he was an FBI agent. More on that later.”
Harriet’s eyes widened, anticipating the reveal.
“We were chasing this suspect named Leo Darius up to the roof of a tall building.”
Dani continued her story, telling Harriet about her trip to the future and how nobody here knew who she was, not even her mother. Harriet shook her head sadly at that. Mostly she listened wordlessly, enjoying having someone talk to her, and nodded now and then, showing no more surprise than if Dani had been talking about a trip to the dentist. She left Gemma out of the story, worried that she would disturb Harriet, and focused on the hunt for Darius. It felt good to talk about it, to get it off her chest.
“I don’t know how to find him,” Dani said in the end. “This thing is practically useless.” She held up her wrist to show Harriet the device.
Harriet patted her arm. “I’m sure you’ll find him, dear.”
Dani smiled to herself, seeing that Harriet’s attention was on the TV again. This time it was The Donna Reed Show. Dani sat back to watch. Periodically she and Harriet shared a look or laugh. The show was slow-paced, charming and innocent. Dani wished she could walk into Donna Reed’s living room and escape her present disaster.
After the show was over, she cleaned the orange stains from Harriet’s fingers with a washcloth, then she got the hairbrush out of the top drawer of the side table and brushed her wispy hair. It seemed to remind her of her daughter.
“Is Gemma coming today?” she asked.
“Not today.”
“Do you know Gemma?”
“Yes,” Dani answered. “She’s a wonderful woman.”
Harriet nodded in agreement. “She’s the lady who brushes my hair.”
Dani closed her eyes briefly, feeling sympathy for Gemma, then patted Harriet’s shoulder and put the brush away. Maybe it feels the same to Gemma, she thought, having her mother not knowing she’s her mother, as it feels to me now, having Gemma not knowing she’s my wife. The thought made Dani’s eyes sting. She blinked back her tears.
After a little over an hour and two TV shows, during which Grace had fallen asleep in her chair with black stains on her lips, Dani got up to go. She hugged Harriet closely, thinking this might be the last time she’d ever see her.
“Will you come again?” Harriet asked.
Dani smiled down at her. “Sure. I stashed the rest of the Cheetos there in your top drawer.”
Harriet’s eyes twinkled mischievously, as if they had pulled off the great Cheetos caper.
“Sleep well.” Dani kissed Harriet’s cheek and left.
Chapter Sixteen
Dani sat on a bench in Dolores Park, eating a roast beef sandwich and reminiscing about the times in her life she had been here before. This was where they staged the Dyke March every June, where all the women gathered for speeches and general partying before taking to the street. Dani could see it in her mind. The place was wall-to-wall women every Pride weekend, full of loud music, loud women and raging female power. Today, however, it was nearly empty and quiet, except for the ever-present hum of city traffic in the atmosphere. The sun had just disappeared behind one of the towers of the basilica and the temperature had immediately dropped.
It was Thursday afternoon and Dani had still heard nothing from Gemma nor had she gotten a whiff of Darius. How was she supposed to find him? Nothing was going well.
She picked up the second half of her sandwich, absentmindedly watching a woman walking her dog, a tan Pekinese. It reminded her of Tucker. She sure missed him. When her phone rang, she put the sandwich down and answered immediately, hoping it was Gemma.
“Officer Barsetti?” a woman’s voice asked. “This is Gail Littleton.”
“Oh, hi. What’s up?”
“I think I may have been the victim of a con.”
“What kind of con?”
“Are you busy? Could you come over and talk? It’s possible I had a visit from your suspect today.”
“Darius?” Dani bolted to her feet.
“Yes.”
“Are you okay? Are you safe?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Nothing threatening happened at all. I’m home now.”
Dani relaxed. “I’m not busy, no. I can come over. Give me your address.”
Littleton lived not far from the campus in Berkeley’s Elmwood District. When Dani reached her address, she found a two-story Arts and Crafts bungalow with dormer windows in the attic and two brick chimneys. It was painted brown with dark green trim and rested peacefully in the shade of three totem-like redwoods. The lawn was well kept and landscaped with hydrangeas and azaleas, the former of which were blooming abundantly. It was a peaceful, comfortable-looking house and there was no sign of trouble anywhere around it. Dani checked her DNA detector. No green dot.
She walked up to the porch and was about to ring the bell when Littleton pulled open the door. She wore a loose-legged pair of capris and a sleeveless knit top and looked much more casual than the other times Dani had seen her. She had a glass of red wine in her hand and appeared calm, greeting Dani with a warm smile.
“Come in.” She stood aside to let Dani enter. “I almost didn’t recognize you! You look so different out of uniform. You’re not on duty, then?”
“No, not today.”
“I hope I didn’t interrupt something fun.”
“No, I was just hanging out. I’m glad you called. I’ve been hoping for a break in this case.”
Littleton led her into the living room, a tastefully furnished space that obviously received little wear and tear.
“Sit down. Would you like a glass of wine?”
