Acquainted With the Night (21 page)

Chapter Twenty

As Alex prepared to make the turn to merge onto the Valley Highway, she stopped at the traffic light and punched in the code for her sister’s home telephone number.

“Alex,” Nicole answered. “It’s late for you to be calling. Everything all right?”

“Yes,” Alex answered. “Do me a favor, will you? Don’t watch the ten o’clock news when it comes on in a couple of minutes. I’m on my way to your house.”

“What?” Nicole’s voice was sharp. “Why? What’s happened?”

“It’s not bad news, Nic,” Alex said gently. “But I want to tell you in person. The newscasts never get it quite right.”

“Get what right? Alex, what happened?”

Alex sighed into the phone. “Nicole, for once would you just do as I ask you? You can wait twenty minutes until I get there. Charlie’s asleep, right?”

“Of course,” Nicole said, and Alex could hear her trying to calm down. “You’re sure everything is all right?”

“I’m sure. I’ll see you soon.”

Alex rolled down her window and let the cool air wash away some of her fatigue. It always amazed her how quickly a shooting incident could happen, and how long it took to clean up afterward. She decided at that moment that she would be sleeping in Nicole’s guest room tonight. After this conversation, she knew she wouldn’t have the energy to drive back home to the condo again.

And if she stayed at Nicole’s tonight, she could have a drink when she got there, which was sounding like a better and better idea.

* * *

Nicole had the gas fireplace going, and it felt good after the chilling ride to the far south suburbs. Nicole took her jacket and asked, “Are you staying tonight?”

“Yes, I’d like to.”

“Good,” Nicole said, and without another word got them both a scotch on the rocks.

They sat in front of the fireplace a couple of minutes without talking. Alex took a drink and felt the liquor wind a dark path to her stomach. Finally, Nicole said quietly, “There’s blood on your shirt cuff.”

Alex looked down in surprise. “Sorry. I didn’t see it.”

“I assumed not,” Nicole said, a little dryly. After a moment, she added quietly, “This is about David, isn’t it?”

Alex turned to her in surprise. “Yes. How did you know?”

“Sisterly intuition, I suppose. Did you find the man who murdered him?”

“We found the person responsible, yes.”

Nicole’s face twisted a little in pain. “Is he in jail?” she asked. “Or,” she looked down at the tiny bloodstain again and choked out, “Or did you kill him, Alex?”

Alex set her glass on the coffee table and took Nicole’s hand. “There were two men who did the actual shooting,” she began. “The person who hired them to go to the park that day killed them herself a couple of weeks later. They’ve been dead for months, Nic.”

“And the person who hired them? A woman?” Nicole’s voice rose. “It wasn’t—it couldn’t have had anything to do with David.”

This comfort, at least, Alex could give her sister. “It had nothing to do with him,” Alex reassured her. “David didn’t do anything wrong, Nic. It was me they were trying to kill that day. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”

Nicole stared at her, the reflection of the flames dancing on one side of her face. “My God,” she said. “My God, Alex. Was it someone you’d arrested in the past, or what?”

“No,” Alex said. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

Nicole said, “In that case, I’m going to need another drink.”

When she returned to the couch, Alex could see that she had composed herself a little, as if steeling herself for the rest of the story. “Tell me,” she said quietly.

Alex sighed. “The woman who hired them—the same two men who ran me off the road last year, by the way—was CJ’s former lover. She wanted me dead so she could come back into CJ’s life. When the two attempts didn’t work, she killed her accomplices and sent the note to CJ, telling her to leave me or she’d make another attempt. That’s why CJ left, Nicole. She really was trying to keep me safe.”

Nicole stared at her. “That’s insane.”

“Yes. Well, the woman behind all of this is some kind of crazy.”

“Why didn’t you want me to watch the news tonight?”

Alex leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes a moment. “Because I had to shoot her,” she said. “We were in Tony’s office, and there were a couple of local film crews outside when we finally got out of there. I just didn’t want you to hear about it on the news.”

She explained everything that had happened. Nicole sat a long time, listening and staring into the fire. When she was finished, Nicole asked softly, “Is she dead, Alex? Did you kill her?”

Alex couldn’t tell if Nicole was hoping for a yes or a no. She replied, “They teach police officers not to use our weapons unless we’re prepared to kill someone. You always aim for the middle of the torso, if you can, it’s the biggest target. But she was moving, and I was on the floor—well, anyway, my bullet shattered her upper arm, apparently severed an artery. She’s going to live, because we got her to the hospital right away, but the doctors don’t think they can save her arm. She’s in surgery now.”

Nicole looked deeply into her whiskey. “What will happen to her? We’ll have to go through a trial, I suppose.”

“It’s possible, but not very likely. And I don’t know what the shrinks are going to say, but she’s really crazy, Nic. She may or may not be competent to stand trial. If she’s not, they’ll commit her to the state mental health institute at Pueblo. She could end up at Pueblo anyway, if there is a trial and she’s found not guilty by reason of insanity.” Alex added, “And don’t worry. Even if she does go to trial, she pretty much confessed to everything she’d done, not just to me, but to Tony as well. She took his gun and apparently used it to kill her two co-conspirators. We’re beginning to gather the rest of the evidence we would need to convict her if there is a trial. She will not walk away from this, I promise you that.”

Nicole finished her drink and sat back. “What a waste,” she finally said. “David died because some insane woman thought CJ still loved her.”

Hesitantly, Alex said, “I have to say something to you. I was afraid to tell you all of this.”

“Why? Because it would bring everything back?”

“Partly. But mostly because I’m afraid you would, I don’t know, blame CJ for this somehow. If she weren’t in my life, if I hadn’t married her, David wouldn’t be dead right now.”

Nicole looked at her steadily. “I never want to hear that again,” she said firmly. “This wasn’t your fault, this wasn’t CJ’s fault, it was no one’s fault except for this woman and the people she used. Although,” she added bitterly, “you’ll forgive me if I save a sliver of blame for your idiot of an ex-husband. How could he be so stupid? Who dates a woman for months and months and can’t figure out that she’s crazy?”

Alex tried a smile. “Clearly, he has lousy taste in women.”

Nicole glared at her. “Stop that. He deserves whatever humiliation he gets from this.”

“Nic…” Alex gently touched her arm. “Don’t worry. He had what was about the worst couple of hours of his life today. He was almost as hysterical as Laurel by the time I released him from the handcuffs. The fact that I was the one who saved his sorry ass is probably the worst part of all, at least for him.”

Nicole said sadly, “It’s all terrible. Don’t misunderstand, I’m glad you caught her, but it doesn’t change anything. David’s still gone. Everyone’s suffered from this, you and me and Charlie and CJ. Oh, my God, Alex. Does this mean she can come home?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “If I can find her. And if she wants to come home.”

“What? Why wouldn’t she?” Nicole demanded.

“I don’t know. Lots of reasons. Guilt, for one thing. She was under a lot of pressure when someone threatened me and she wasn’t thinking clearly. She probably regrets that. She may be angry with me for not resolving this earlier, for leaving her alone, wherever she is. Or maybe—she might have a new life, Nic. She might have someone new.”

“You don’t really believe that could be true.”

“No. I don’t know. I don’t know what to think. I won’t know anything until I find her.”

“It will be all right, honey,” she said, but Alex heard Nicole’s voice starting to shake. “It will be.”

Alex saw her face crumple. Alex moved in to take Nicole into her arms as the tears started. Alex had known this was coming, the reaction to the finality of David’s death, now that the reasons were known. She’d spent many hours since last July trying to comfort her sister, and Alex wondered if this would be the last time Nicole would cry like this for David.

Probably not, she thought in the next moment. Sorrow has a long lifetime.

* * *

“So,” Elaine Wheeler said, “what are you going to do now?”

Alex looked for a moment at the chessboards neatly lined up on the glass bookshelf in Wheeler’s office, and wondered why today one of them seemed to be frozen in mid-game, the pieces in a pattern she didn’t recognize.

“I’m going to Georgia,” Alex answered her. “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’ve asked for two weeks’ leave. If it takes longer than that, then I’ll just have to take more. I’ll call you when I get back. I’m going to see someone who I believe knows where CJ is, and I’m going to find her and bring her home.”

“Even if she doesn’t want to come home?” Wheeler asked, and Alex thought she was trying to keep her voice gentle.

“No,” Alex said, trying not to choke on the word. “Of course not. If she doesn’t want to come back, of course not. I want her back, but I want her to be happy. If she’s happy somewhere else, then…” She couldn’t finish.

“I just want you to consider the possibility,” Wheeler said.

“I’ve considered it,” Alex said. “Maybe she’s moved on. Maybe she’ll be too angry with me to come back. But I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it. She left everyone, everything she knew, for my sake. All I can really believe is that she will walk back into my arms. If she doesn’t, then we’ll…we’ll just deal with that if it happens.”

“But you do remember what we talked about before? Even if you find CJ, even if she comes back with you, that’s not necessarily the end of the issues between you. We talked about that before.”

“I’m very aware of that,” Alex answered. “And I am angry with her for leaving. Why didn’t she just tell me about the threats? We could have figured it out together. She just took off alone. Didn’t she have any faith in me as a detective? Instead she just hides some note in a file and leaves me to figure it out on my own—”

Alex realized her voice was rising and took a moment to take a breath. “I was thinking about asking you something. I know you said you don’t normally do marital counseling, but I was wondering if I could call you when I get back and bring CJ here…if she comes home with me. To meet you. Maybe the three of us could talk for a session, at least. Would that be all right?”

Wheeler looked as if she were considering her answer, then with a slight smile she nodded. “Of course. You know I won’t break patient confidentiality, but if you want to include CJ in our session so she can understand more about what has been happening with you, that would be up to you. If she wants to see me separately after that, we can discuss that, too. It’s fine with me.”

“Good. I’d like that, I think.”

“And how are you feeling about your trip?”

Alex considered. “About equal parts terrified and hopeful. I don’t think it’s going to seem real to me until I’m actually in the same room with her again.”

Wheeler leaned forward. “Then I hope it goes as well as you’re hoping, and the things you fear won’t become reality.”

“Me too,” Alex answered fervently.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Mr. Edgarton can see you now,” the young woman said to Alex.

Alex was momentarily startled by the soft drawl, almost exactly the same cadence that CJ used. Edgarton’s legal assistant was a petite brunette, so Alex wasn’t in danger of seeing CJ in her, but the similarity of dialect was disconcerting.

Alex gathered her briefcase and followed the woman into Edgarton’s massive office. The law firm was located near Savannah’s historical district, which was filled with antebellum mansions and old commercial buildings. Alex had seen a plaque designating the area as a National Historic Landmark, and wished she had time to explore the city CJ grew up in.

Later
, she told herself. I’ll come back here, someday, with CJ, and let her show me her home. Soon. As soon as I find her.

Roger Edgarton rose from his desk to greet her just inside the door. “Good afternoon,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to wait.”

“Alex Ryan.” She took his hand. He covered her hand with both of his and looked down at her with what she thought was both curiosity and compassion.

“I cannot tell you, Miss Ryan,” he said in his deep voice, “how very pleased I am to meet you at last. Belle speaks of you constantly.”

Alex felt her throat closing up a little, but managed, “Thank you.”

He led her to a rectangular seating area, two oxblood leather couches flanking a wooden coffee table, with matching leather club chairs at either end. She noticed that he took one of the chairs and eased himself into it. She assumed the chairs were easier for him to get out of than the lower, butter-soft couch she sank into.

Edgarton had to be seventy, easily. He had completely white hair, neatly clipped short and parted to show his pink scalp. His cheeks were pink too, so perfectly shaven she assumed he must have someone do it for him every morning. Despite the April heat, he was dressed in a navy suit complete with buttoned vest, and a striped tie. If she had been casting a movie that called for a Southern lawyer, she would have hired him in an instant.

Proudly displayed on the wall over his head was a series of photographs in matching frames. Various young women, and one older woman, in a variety of poses: backyard barbeques, football tailgating parties, dog shows displaying ribbons. Every photo prominently featured at least one handsomely ugly bulldog, fawn-colored, and all of them looking immensely self-satisfied. Alex couldn’t help but remark on them.

“I’m guessing you own bulldogs,” she ventured.