Sitting on her front porch was Kurt with a package in his hands.
Bounding out of the car and running up to him on the glider, she jumped into his arms. “I missed you,” she gushed, hugging him tight and taking a big kiss.
Running his hands up and down her back, he pulled her into his lap and said, “I missed you too. Let’s get what you need and head back to the house. Kev will have dinner waiting.”
“Okay, what’s in the box?” she asked, noticing the box Kurt had been holding.
“I don’t know, it was sitting on the glider when I got here. There’s no label or anything on it.”
“Just like the other one,” Tina commented, puzzled.
“You go gather your things, and I’ll take it and open it,” Kurt told her, not wanting her to see if it was anything bad, and he had a feeling it was.
“No, I want to see,” Tina said a little apprehensive. Who could be leaving the packages? she wondered. One was okay, but two were too much of a coincidence.
Kurt took her hand and led her to the kitchen, where he sat the small box on the counter. Grabbing a knife to open it, he tried to shield Tina from the contents. He opened it quickly and shut just as fast.
“Wait, I didn’t see,” Tina said, trying to grab the box out of his hands.
Kurt slapped her hands away and turned with the box in his hands. “It isn’t something you want to see. I’m going to get rid of it,” he said, walking toward the door.
“What. Was. In. The. Box?” Tina demanded.
“Baby, you really don’t want to know.” Kurt was still trying to shield her. He needed to put the box in the truck and text Kevin.
“I. Want. To. See.” Tina didn’t understand why he wouldn’t show her.
“Tina, do remember what was in the first box?” Kurt finally asked her.
“Oh…is it another rat?” she asked quietly.
“No…this time it’s a bird. Do you really want to see?” Kurt sounded as exasperated as she felt.
“No…I don’t need to see,” Tina said, as she sat in a chair at the table, not sure she could stand much longer.
“Why would someone do something like that?” She didn’t understand. “Do you think it’s still kids?’
“I don’t know. It could be. Kevin kept the first box and we will take it with this one to some friends at the police crime lab. They can take it and have it checked out for us. If you get any more, we shouldn’t them touch them in case they have fingerprints on them. I am going to call Evan at the Club and we are going to have security with surveillance cameras installed on your house. I want to see who’s leaving the packages.”
“Okay, won’t that be expensive?” Tina asked, wringing her hands.
“No, we’ll get the Club discount and Kev and I will pay for it. Don’t worry, with you staying with us, we need to set up something here. Grab some of the things we bought for you the other night, I feel like a fashion show tonight,” Kurt said, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the bedroom.
It was easy for Tina to grab the stuff off the bed and quickly put it in a bag to take to Kevin and Kurt’s. Grabbing what she needed for work for a few days didn’t take long either, and within a matter of minutes she was ready to go.
She found Kurt on the porch, talking on his cell phone. Sitting on the glider beside him, she waited for him to finish his conversation.
“I need your keys, I’m meeting Evan here tomorrow with a crew to install a security system on your house. You’ll stay with us until we get this figured out.”
“Okay, I can take money out of my savings to pay. Do they need the money ahead of time?”
“Kev and I will take care of it and let you know later.” There was no way he was going to let her pay, but he wasn’t going to argue the point either. He had already talked to Kevin, and Kev agreed with him.
Taking her bags, he put them in the back of his truck. Turning, he saw her walking toward her car. Running to catch up with her, he grabbed her arm.
“Ride with me and we’ll come back for your car later,” he told her.
She was standing, staring at the front of her car, and said, “I’m not going far anyway, look.”