Carol's Image (18 page)

Tom continued thrusting for a few more strokes until his head reared back, and his neck muscles strained as he poured himself into her. She milked him until he didn’t think there could possibly be anything left. Crashing down onto the bed, he rolled so that he didn’t crush her, pulling her tightly into his arms.

Sweat mingling, panting together, they lay, each lost in their own thoughts.

Tom pulled her in tighter, as though he could slay all of her dragons with just his embrace.
Love. I love this woman. I need her.
Sliding one hand upward to cup the back of her head, he pulled her in even closer to his chest.

Carol could feel his heartbeat slowing down from its frantic pace.
Safe. Secure. Cared for. Comforted. Accepted. Loved. He loves me.
Smiling, she listened to his heart beating next to her cheek.

Raising her eyes up to his, blue eyes gazed at blue eyes.

“I hear your heart beat,” she whispered.

“It beats for you, angel,” he whispered back.

C
arol had one more week of graveyard shifts before she began working the day shift. Pushing open the door to the break room, she was pleased to see Sofia and Jon putting their belongings into the lockers.

“Hey guys, I didn’t think that I would see you tonight,” she greeted.

“Yeah well, I gotta pull some extra nights to cover some bills. Ross’ truck quit on him, the downstairs toilet is leaking, and the baby has an ear infection. I swear, we just get caught up when life knocks us back down again,” she moaned as she hugged Carol. “By the way, you’ve got to get over to the security station. Mr. Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Love sent you some bodacious flowers.”

Curious, Carol headed toward Marcus’ station, seeing the huge bouquet from down the hall. Not able to contain her grin, she bounded up to him.

Cocking his eyebrow, “You think there’s somethin’ here for you, little girl?” Marcus joked.

“Hmmm, do those gorgeous flowers happen to have my name on them?”

Taking his time, pretending to look carefully for the card, Carol impatiently grabbed the card from amongst the blooms. Opening the envelope marked ‘
Carol Fletcher
’, she looked at the card inside.

You are my life. You are my love. You will be mine. I want us to be together always.

Sofia and Jon, each peering over a shoulder, chimed in, “Awwwwww.”

Carol, staring at the card with a confused look on her face, caught the attention of the other three. Realizing they were expecting a reaction from her, she looked guilty.

“Damn, I hope when I send flowers to a girl they have a better reaction than you, girl,” Marcus exclaimed.

Blushing, Carol explained, “Oh they’re gorgeous. It just…seems…well, it just doesn’t sound like Tom.”

“Oh honey, you know how florists are,” Jon stated. “They just get the order and then they embellish the notes with their own words.”

“Oh,” Carol said, sounding slightly disappointed. Shaking her head, “I’m sorry guys. I’ll call him once my shift is almost over.” Picking up the vase, she headed back to the break room. Placing the flowers on the center of the table, she opened her locker to pull her cell phone out of her purse. Knowing he wouldn’t get the message until he woke the next morning, she texted her thanks.

Tks for the flowers. They r beautiful. Luv u 2!

*

The ER was busy that night, but Carol was grateful since the shift seemed to fly by. She only had another hour to work when she decided to check her phone to see if Tom had received her text. Meeting Sofia outside the break room door, they entered together. She was surprised to see Marcus, Jon, and Tom standing by the table with the flowers.

“Tom,” she greeted with a smile on her face, starting to walk toward him. He turned around, and the look on his face melted her smile instantly. Halting in mid step, she looked between the three men. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

Tom’s long stride made it to her in two steps, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Protected. I feel protected. But protected from what?
Carol leaned her head back to look into Tom’s face. “Tom?”

“Angel, I didn’t send those flowers. What I want to know is who the fuck did?”

Twisting her head to look at Marcus still standing by the flowers, she saw him shaking his head. “Tom, man. I’m sorry. I don’t know. They were on the guard station desk when I clocked in at eleven.”

“Call the person on the shift ahead of you. I wanna know who accepted the flowers and which florist delivered them. There’s no goddamn florist name on this envelope. I also wanna see the security tapes. If I have to get a subpoena, I will.” Tom barked out orders, and Marcus jumped to obey. He headed out to talk to the security guard who had the shift ahead of him.

Carol, wide-eyed, saying nothing, looked up at him. “Tom?”

He heard fear in her voice and tightened his arms. “Don’t worry, angel. I’ll take care of it.”

“Tom, I don’t understand. Who would send me those flowers?”

“Don’t know, baby.” He wrapped his strong hands gently around her upper arms, pushing her away from him so that he could lean down to peer in her eyes. “But from this moment on, you do not leave this hospital alone. Either I, Jake, or a security guard walks you to your car. Angel…Do. You. Get. Me?”

Visibly paling, Carol nodded slowly. Lowering her eyes, her thoughts flying fast and furious.
Bert? Could it be Bert? I wonder if Tom has thought of him?

With one arm still holding Carol tightly into his side, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. “Jake? Gotta problem. Someone sent Carol flowers with a suspicious note. I wanna know where Bert Penski is, right fuckin’ now. Yeah. Yeah. Later.”

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he pulled Carol to his front again. One arm wrapped around her shoulders and one hand holding the back of her head, pressing her closely to his chest. “I want you clocking out now angel, and I’m takin’ you home. Got shit to do today, checkin’ things out, but I want you to stay home, locked in. I’ll come back this evenin’ and we’ll eat before I bring you back to work tonight.”

Not feeling any movement from Carol, he used his hand on her head to tilt her head back gently, taking in her eyes. “Angel? You’re gonna be fine. Promise.”

Giving him a small smile, she nodded then laid her head back on his chest.
This is where I belong. Right here, my head resting on his chest.

*

Tom and Jake pulled into Bert’s neighborhood within the hour. The old neighborhood had seen better days, but most of the tiny row houses were fairly neat. The identical houses were all built in the late 1940’s, after World War II when the soldiers were coming home. A few of the homes had been renovated, but many were the same original size. In front of some were junk cars, overgrown weeds, and some sketchy characters. Others were well kept with trimmed lawns and flower beds.

“This the neighborhood Bert and Cal grew up in?” Tom asked.

Jake nodded, but kept his eyes peeled as he drove down the road. “What did the security tapes show?”

Tom cursed, “Jack-shit, man. The fucker didn’t come in a florist truck. Came walkin’ from outside the camera range, beyond the hospital parkin’ lot, with the flowers. Jeans and a jacket. Had a ball cap; kept it pulled down. Mid height, mid weight. Nothing distinguishin’. Waited outside the ER door until an ambulance came up. Slipped in with the group, set the flowers down on the security desk, then walked back out the way he came.”

“Sounds more professional than Bert,” Jake surmised.

“Don’t assume that weasel couldn’t figure out how to do that. He knows he’s been banned, so he’s got to find a way to get to her.”

Stopping outside Bert’s house, they perused it carefully. Quiet in the early morning, it looked completely unassuming. Not one of the newly renovated houses, but not junked either.

Tom put his hand on the truck handle, but before he could open the door, Jake quietly asked, “You cool?”

Tom cut his eyes quickly over to his best friend and partner. “You think I’m gonna go off, half-cocked, and get myself arrested?”

Unwavering, Jake looked Tom in the eyes. “Didn’t say that, man. Just want you to hold your shit together.”

“Got it,” was the only reply.

The men knocked on the front door, waiting for just a moment before the door was opened by a small woman, suspicion in her eyes. “You sellin’, I ain’t buyin’,” she said as she tried to shut the door.

Jake and Tom flashed their badges, halting the closing of the door. Looking up at their faces, she scowled. “I don’t know nothin’ about Cal. He ain’t been here in a long time. He was trouble as a kid and trouble followed him. He ain’t here and I ain’t seen him.”

Tom growled, but Jake spoke over him quickly. “We’re not here for Cal. He’s in custody. We’re here to talk to Bert.”

The woman’s eyes opened wide, then narrowed in anger. “My Bert’s not done nothin’ wrong. You ain’t got no call harrassin’ him. He don’t know nothin’ about his brother.”

Tom cut her off. “We need to talk to Bert. Is he here?”

“Ma, who’s at the door?” said a voice from inside the house. Bert appeared at his mother’s side. His eyes looked at Jake in confusion, then over to Tom, recognition settling in.

“Yeah, you remember, don’t you, Bert? You remember seein’ me at the hospital with my girlfriend.”

Bert, drawing himself up to his unsubstantial height, looked up at Tom nervously. “Ma, you go on back and start breakfast. I’m just going to talk to these gentlemen for a moment.”

Mrs. Penski scowled again as she turned and walked back into the house. Bert stepped outside, looking up at the impressive men standing in front of him, sweat beginning to pour off of him.

“Nervous, Bert?” Tom asked. “You got somethin’ you’re nervous about?”

“I don’t know what you mean. Why did you come here looking for me?” he asked, licking his lips.

“We need to know where you were last night between nine and ten o’clock.”

Bert’s face showed confusion. “Last night? I..I was here. At home. With Ma.”

“Anybody else around? Anyone who can support that claim?” Tom bit out.

Bert eyes shifted to the side. “Well, Ma can. We were watching that new lawyer show on the TV and it didn’t start until nine o’clock and went off at ten o’clock.” Bert looked back up at them hopefully.

Tom growled, shifting his stance in anger. Jake took over, placing a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “Anyone besides your mom who can verify you were here?”

“No. It was just us. My pop’s been dead for a couple of years, so it was just me and Ma. What’s this about?”

“Nothin’ you need to be concerned about. We’re just investigating a situation at the hospital. You were banned and we’re wantin’ to make sure you aren’t violating that ban.”

“Miss Carol? Did something happen to Miss Carol?”

Tom jerked away from Jake, putting his palm on Bert’s chest pushing him backwards till he was pressed up against the front door. “You don’t say her name. You got me. You don’t see her. You don’t talk to her. And you sure as hell don’t try to contact her.”

Jake pulled Tom back, barking, “Tom.”

Bert looked up in fright, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Tom turned and walked back to the truck as Jake finished up with Bert.
Fuck.

Jake joined him, and they drove out of the neighborhood, not saying anything for a few minutes. “You believe him?” Jake finally asked.

“Fuck if I know. The video was unclear, but it coulda’ been him. Convenient that his ma is his alibi.”

“We’ll keep workin’ it, man. Just make sure Carol stays sharp and aware of what is goin’ on around her,” Jake warned.

“Oh, I plan on staying right with her. Plus she’s got a new roommate moving into the apartment with her in a couple of days.”

Jake looked over, with a smirk on his face. “You already checked her out?”

“Hell yeah. Girl checks out. No police record. Credit check is good. Worked for the same employer for a while. Gonna be an elementary teacher here in town.”

“Sounds perfect for Carol,” Jake added.

“Gotta tell you, it’s been nice for us to be able to have privacy at either place, but when I’m workin’, I’d rather her have a roommate.” Tom looked over at his partner, raising his eyebrow. “Who knows, Jake? She just might be interested in you.”