Double Jeopardy (Entangled Select) (12 page)

He shook his head.

Lauren struggled to sit up. “Do you have a better idea how to catch her?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “Damn it, you know I don’t! That doesn’t mean you have to do anything stupid. What’s so wrong with you staying here, relaxing, and letting them pamper you for a while?”

“Tell me, Counselor, when was the last time you were a patient in the hospital? Pampering is the last thing they do.”

“I had my tonsils out when I was nine. It was great. All the ice cream I could eat.”

“Adults aren’t that lucky. The food is usually worse than what you would be served on an airplane, they believe anything soft and runny is perfect for anyone, and they wake you up in the morning to take your temperature. I can do all that at home without some ghoul of a nurse smiling at me.”

“Look who’s talking about ghouls.”

Lauren wasn’t going to get by without a bit of grumbling. “It isn’t fair to tease me when I’m in a bad mood and can’t glare at you.”

Josh took note of her weariness. “Go back to sleep. No one’s going to get to you here.”

“Not that I’m worried, Counselor, but you can’t order round-the-clock protection.” Her eyes kept drifting shut. “Call Dana. Tell her what happened. She’ll have some answers for you.”

Seeing that she’d fallen back asleep, Josh eased off the bed and hooked his foot around the leg of the nearby visitor’s chair and pulled it toward him. He settled back in it with his legs stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles.

He watched the sleeping woman, wishing he could figure out what was going on in his head. And cursed life for giving him Lauren, then almost snatching her away from him before he could fully figure out what was happening. But he had an idea he was going to make sure they were around together for a good long time.

…

“So she’s escalating her attacks.”

Josh shifted the receiver from one ear to the other so he could hear better. He slipped out of Lauren’s room to use his cell so she wouldn’t wake up and overhear him.

“In spades. What now?”

The psychiatrist’s end was silent for a moment. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she lies low for a while. She probably figures she has Lauren scared out of her mind and she’ll want to relax and savor her triumph. After all, the stunt she pulled was directed at what she probably sees as Lauren’s vanity, her face. The thing is, Lauren’s one of the least narcissistic people I know. But this woman is too blind in her sickness to bother to care. I wouldn’t be surprised if she returns her focus to you.” A faint hum over the line seemed loud in Josh’s ear. “Will Lauren be released today? Silly question, she’ll sign herself out if they don’t let her go. She hates hospitals,” she murmured more to herself. “Tell her I’ll call her tonight. And watch your step, Josh.”

“Would you be effective in advising Lauren she needs round-the-clock protection?”

She laughed. “You might as well tell her to leave town. She’ll only tell you in very graphic terms what you can do with that suggestion. Lauren makes a mule look mild, compared to her own stubborn streak. But I will tell you something—if this woman strikes at Lauren again, she’s going to find herself with a very angry woman on her hands. Lauren’s temper is slow to burn, but when it ignites, watch out.”

“That’s it? That’s your advice?” He pounded his fist against the wall then quickly backed off when a nurse passing him flashed him a reproving look.

“Be grateful I’m not charging you for this, because believe me, I don’t come cheap. If Detective Peterson has any questions, tell him to give me a call. I have a patient coming in five minutes. I’d say your waiting period has shortened by a great deal.”

Josh muttered several curses as he next called his secretary for messages.

“If I were you, I’d call Her Highness first,” Ginnie advised. “She’s only called here six times and she’s downright furious with you.”

“Since she got her check, I don’t know what she can bitch about, but I’ll find out.” With a resigned sigh, he punched in his ex-wife’s number next, only to learn that she was staying with friends in California. That was one coincidence he didn’t appreciate, and he quickly got the number.

“It’s about time you called,” Stephanie’s cold voice assaulted his ears.

He wasn’t about to waste any sensibilities on her. “Look, Stephanie, a colleague was badly injured, and time is something I don’t have. What do you want?”

“I want you to call off your needless investigation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know very well what I’m talking about. I couldn’t believe you were investigating my movements. We’re divorced, thank God, and there is no reason for you to dig into any part of my life. I suggest you stop it immediately or pay the consequences.” She didn’t bother to wait for a reply as she disconnected.

“Thanks, Kevin, you’re checking all bets,” he breathed, as he walked away from the phones.

“No.”

“Be reasonable, Doc,” Kevin pleaded from the narrow counter he perched on while Josh took the one visitor’s chair. “This broad wants you bad. You can’t stay in your house alone. You should be under constant observation for your own protection. Or maybe take a vacation.”

“I just started working there, remember?”

“Considering everything, I don’t think you’d have to worry about having your vacation request denied.”

Lauren turned to Josh. “Did you call Dana, as I asked you to?”

He nodded. “First thing this morning.”

“What did she recommend I do?”

Josh shifted uncomfortably. “She’s worried about the woman, yes, but she says she knows you well enough that you’re not going to go into hiding. And she’ll call you tonight.”

Lauren nodded, as if expecting to hear exactly that. “I guess that settles that, doesn’t it?”

“It seems the lab was able to figure out that powder pretty quick. One of the techs said they felt really stupid, since they thought it would be something pretty sophisticated and it turned out to be something you can get in the grocery store.” Kevin pulled his notebook out of his pocket and flipped the pages back. “It was your run-of-the-mill flea powder in the cream. They figure you had an allergic reaction to it, so I guess it’s a good thing you’re not a dog or you’d have real problems.” His attempt at humor fell flat.

“I told Dr. O’Neill either he could discharge me or I’d sign myself out, so I can leave anytime,” Lauren said.

“Fine, I give up. We’ll leave so you can get dressed, and then I’ll drive you home.” Josh shot her a look that was filled with as much stubbornness as her own. “Don’t fight me on this one.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t intend to.” She swung her legs over to the side of the bed. “Now, out.”

“No wonder they say docs are the worst patients,” Kevin told Josh as they left the room. “I’ll send a patrol car out to her house and have it wait there until you show up.”

“Good.”

…

Lauren was grateful she didn’t feel the burning sensation on her as much today, thanks to the ointment, but it still felt ultrasensitive. She flinched when the lightweight fabric of her sweater brushed against her face as she slipped her sweater on over her head and quickly pulled on her jeans.

Once the paperwork was dispensed with, Josh walked alongside the wheelchair in which she was glumly seated.

“You won’t fight me on this,” the nurse told her.

“And you wonder why I don’t like hospitals,” Lauren told Josh.

“You might want to have the security people back out to look at your system,” Josh said, as he drove to her house.

She opened her window and breathed in the crisp, late morning air to clear out the disinfectant smell she always associated with, and hated about, hospitals.

“I’ll do it first thing.”

“Would you be willing to settle for a driver to and from the morgue?”

She kept filling her lungs with air even as she felt a bit lightheaded. “Even though she hasn’t tried anything with a car?”

“There’s always a first time.”

“I’ll concede on that point, as long as it isn’t Pete or Sophie behind the wheel.”

“Damn gracious of you to give in on something.”

She would have smiled if she’d dared. “I can be damn gracious when I want to.”

When Josh passed the patrol car parked conspicuously in front of Lauren’s car, the driver looked at Josh and nodded that everything was all right.

It wasn’t until Josh unlocked the front door and pushed it open that Lauren started to feel uneasy. She hesitated for a moment, before she quickly walked inside, moving through each room, grateful Josh was right behind her. She was glad to see someone had thought to turn off her coffee maker and dumped the contents in the sink.

“Mrs. Turner is going to have a fit when she sees the mess.” She nodded toward the black fingerprint powder covering every surface. “And I suppose nothing was found.”

“Not a thing, but we can always hope.”

It wasn’t until she moved closer to her bedroom that she felt the heaviness in her chest, constricting her breathing, suffocating her. Her stride slowed with each step she took. She thought of her unmade bed with her nightgown still thrown across the surface. Her makeup was scattered across the bathroom counter. She vowed to pick up a different facial cleanser as soon as possible. She’d never be able to use that brand again. And the glass canister she kept cotton balls in was probably still in pieces on the bathroom floor from when she’d spun around as her skin started burning. She swallowed the nausea searing the back of her throat. She jumped when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders.

“Are you all right?” Josh’s rumbling voice was comforting in her ear.

“Yes. No. I’m not sure. All of the above. It’s just that I hadn’t had a chance to put anything away yesterday, so this room will look worse.” She finally reached her bedroom. And froze the moment she stepped in the doorway.

The bed was made up and the furniture shone with polish that left a faint lemon scent in the air. She hurried into the bathroom and moaned a soft, keening sound.

The broken canister had been swept up and the pieces deposited in the wastebasket. The counter was cleared of her cosmetics and the surface wiped clean of fingerprint powder. Even the mirror was wiped clean of the spots of blood. She knew her jar of cleanser would have been taken for evidence, but to find another jar sitting on the counter was too much.

The final insult was the small white card propped against the new glass canister holding cotton balls.

Welcome home, Lauren. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do more for you. By the way, did you realize you need to have your birth control pills refilled? You really should be more careful with important things like that.

Lauren shattered. She retreated to a hazy world where she didn’t hear Josh’s loud curses as he guided her out of the room and back to the living room. She was so lost in her own world she didn’t hear him open the front door and yell for the officers. By then, she didn’t care what happened.

Chapter Eleven

“The card stock is nothing special and the font comes from an HP laser printer. There’s no guarantee we can find out where she bought the card, but we’ll give it a shot. Too bad she didn’t have the courtesy to sign her name. A good, strong hint would have been nice about now,” Kevin told Josh in a low voice as they stood in one corner of the room.

Both men stared at Lauren, who was curled up in a chair. Her arms were wrapped around her body, although the room was overly warm, with all the extra body heat coming from the lab technicians walking in and out as they searched for nonexistent evidence in the bedroom and bathroom.

“She was also obviously the one who turned off the coffee maker and dumped the pot. Yet she didn’t bother cleaning the kitchen like she did the bathroom. Maybe she wanted Lauren to stay relaxed until she went further into the house. Some of the men are canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone noticed a strange car parked near the house. Considering what she’s pulled in the past, it’s a pretty slim chance, since no one’s seen anything before. What happened to the nosy neighbors who practically memorize license plate numbers if a car looks out of place?”

“They’re out working to afford the house payments.” Josh’s face was lined with the frustration that grew more each time. “Did anyone drive by my place and check it out?”

Kevin nodded. “And went in. There’s nothing out of order over there. Your wardrobe’s still in one piece and a faint layer of dust is on the furniture. Probably because she spent so much time here. Fingerprint dust is a bitch to clean. It also might mean she doesn’t know you spent the night at the hospital. We should try to keep that as quiet as possible.”

“That’s not going to be all that easy if she works at the courthouse. There’s no such thing as a private life around there.”

“Maybe not, but we don’t have to let all the details out.” Kevin inclined his head in the direction of the bedroom. “The report I’m filing is calling this a simple B & E, and we’re assuming the perp was probably scared off by a neighbor’s dog or something before anything was taken. Hopefully, no one will check the report too closely and learn the houses are too far away for a dog to be bothered by more than a low-flying plane.”

Josh lowered his voice. “I heard from Stephanie. She’s not too happy with being investigated.”

Kevin grinned. “Considering she’s been in this vicinity around the times of the break-ins, I don’t blame her. She could take one of the top slots as main suspect if we don’t come up with anything to counter it.”

“Good, maybe I wouldn’t have to pay her alimony then.”

“Hey, Detective.” One of the patrolmen stood in the doorway.

Kevin went outside with the officer. Josh moved back to Lauren and hunkered down on his heels next to her chair.

“You doing okay?” He touched her hand with his fingertips, surprised to find it ice cold to the touch. He picked it up, rubbing the skin gently to restore the circulation.

“I know that once I’m over the shock I will be very angry about all of this,” she spoke slowly and distinctly, turning her head. Shock had left shadows under her eyes and etched faint lines around her mouth. “It’s bad enough she came in here with the intent to hurt me. But to come back and deliberately clean up the disaster she caused is more than any sane person should bear. How could she be so blatant?”

He kept rubbing her hand until it felt warmer, then took hold of her other one to do the same. “She wants to keep you unnerved.”

“Then she should be very proud of herself, because I don’t think it will take much more to start me screaming. Look at this.” She held out her free hand. “It wobbles so much, you’d think I was having the caffeine shakes.” She took several deep breaths that shuddered throughout her body. “I’d kill for a cigarette right about now.”

Josh stood up. “You have any brandy in the house?”

“In the cabinet over the refrigerator, but I’d rather have Irish Cream. Brandy gives me a headache, and I think I’ve had enough headaches to last me for a very long time.”

Josh nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Lauren closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair. She found the faint sounds of his moving around the kitchen punctuated by faint curses as glasses clinked together.

“I couldn’t find the glasses you probably use for this, so hope you don’t mind this.”

She opened her eyes to find a juice glass in front of her. She smiled faintly as she accepted the glass. “It tastes the same no matter what it’s in.” She started to sip the rich liquor, then changed her mind and downed it the way she would have drunk whiskey. “It’s almost as good as a cigarette.”

“Don’t you think it might be a good idea to have something to eat now?”

“Not at all.” She handed him the empty glass. “More, please, and would you fill it a bit higher next time? Say, to the brim. After all, I’m not driving anywhere, so it isn’t going to matter how much I have.”

“Lauren, I don’t think—”

“I don’t care what you think, Josh. This woman has invaded my home more than once. She’s gone through my clothing, my makeup, everything a woman considers private. She’s as good as raped me.” She pushed the glass at him again. “I haven’t taken any pain pills because I don’t need them. All I’m suffering is mild discomfort, which aspirin will more than take care of. So, please fill the glass up. In fact, just get a taller glass, because I fully intend to get bombed tonight.”

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and it won’t take much to put you out.” Josh returned to the kitchen. Before he refilled her drink, he checked the refrigerator, only to discover Lauren’s idea of cooking was far more involved than his own. He settled for slicing cheese and finding crackers.

“I thought you might like something with your drink.” He set the plate on her lap. “You didn’t get any lunch.” He glanced at his watch.

Another part of reality hit her. She grabbed his wrist and turned it so she could read the time. “Oh, Josh, your office! You’ve spent the day with me when you should have been at the office.”

“I called Ginnie before we left the hospital. If anything major comes up, she’ll call me.” He topped a cracker with a slice of cheese and handed it to her. “Here, I slaved over a hot churn to make this for you.”

“Churns make butter, not cheese.”

“Whatever. But it made you smile, didn’t it?”

Lauren placed her palm against his cheek. “We’re a pretty sorry pair, aren’t we? You have a woman who wants you so badly she’ll hurt anyone who gets in her way. And when I moved out here, the last thing I wanted was to get involved with a man.”

“I thought we couldn’t get involved.”

“Gossip already has us lumped together.” She held a cheese-topped cracker to his mouth, smiling slightly when he bit down. Smiling even more when he polished off the cracker with a second bite. She sipped her drink. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Counselor, but I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“Good, because I’d already planned to stay.”

“You think she’s going to try again, now that she probably knows her surprise didn’t work as well as she’d hoped, don’t you?” she asked softly.

He knew better than to try to lay a story on her. “Dana figures she’s going to lie low for a while and savor her success. Since she knows more about this subject than I do, I’m sure she’s right, but there’s always a first time when an expert is wrong.” He looked around the room. “The couch looks pretty comfortable, and even better than that, it’s long enough.”

“I have a guest room where you should be more than comfortable.” She stood up, forcing him to step back. “I’m going to change. Why don’t you call and have a pizza delivered. I keep flyers in the drawer by the phone. I like anything but anchovies or olives.”

“Mushroom, extra cheese?”

“Even better.”

Josh waited, watching Lauren walk slowly down the hall. She hesitated for a moment before stepping into her room. He could understand her reluctance to enter it, after what had happened. He moved to the kitchen, found one that looked promising, and called the order in.

“They said it would be about a half hour,” he called out.

“Fine, then I think I’ll take a shower, too. There’s nothing worse than a hospital smell.”

Josh settled back in the living room to watch television. When Lauren’s cell phone rang, he stared at caller ID, unsure whether to answer, then picked up the phone.

“Dr. Hunter’s phone,” he spoke crisply.

“Josh? It’s Gail. I just heard what happened to Lauren. Is she all right? But then, how can she be, if she goes home to find another nasty surprise? Why is all of this happening to her? She’s new in town. She couldn’t have had time to tick anyone off.”

He breathed a silent sigh of relief. For a second he’d feared it was the woman calling to check on Lauren. He wouldn’t put it past her fiendish sense of humor. “She’s fine, except for feeling a little hassled from all that’s happened. Kevin Peterson and I drove her home and she’s in the shower right now. Do you want me to give her a message?”

“No, I’ll call her tomorrow, when she might feel more like herself. Just please tell her I called—and if she starts feeling spooked and wants company tonight, to feel free to give me a call.”

Josh opened his mouth to tell her she wouldn’t need to worry about Lauren tonight, but something held him back. He silently called himself a classic paranoid and merely said, “I’ll let her know, Gail. Thanks for calling.”

Lauren came out dressed in a robe, her wet hair slicked back from her face. The redness from the powder reaction had faded to a dark pink, and the many cuts across the skin didn’t look so obvious now. She dropped into the chair she’d been sitting in before and began towel-drying her hair.

“I thought women didn’t like to be seen without makeup.” Josh lowered the sound on the television.

“After everything else that’s happened, I doubt the real me could scare you away.”

“Gail called to see how you were doing. She said she’d call you tomorrow.”

Satisfied her hair was dry enough, Lauren set the towel to one side. She rested her arms on her knees as she leaned slightly forward, watching Josh carefully. “What else did she say?”

Josh wondered if she was starting to have the same suspicions he was. “Just that.”

“But something about her call left you feeling a little uneasy, didn’t it? She said something you didn’t like.”

He gave her his best prosecutor’s stare, which usually had people cowering. “Don’t push it, Lauren.” The staring contest lasted longer than it ever had for him. He had to give her points on that score. “Fine, if you have to know, she also offered to come over and spend the night, if you wanted company. She said to go ahead and call her. I told her I’d tell you.”

“Amazing how quickly you forgot to pass that part of the message on. Didn’t you let her know I already had a sleepover guest?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t think it was any of her business.”

“Are you sure it was that, or don’t you trust her?”

Josh leaned forward and picked up the odd-shaped glass dish on the coffee table, examining it from every angle. “Fancy ashtray?”

“The day I quit smoking, I threw out all my ashtrays. I don’t keep any reminders around the house. I want you to answer my question, Josh. What about Gail suddenly bothers you?”

“She bothers me the same way every woman I know and/or have worked with now bothers me. I can’t help wondering if she’s the one and what will happen next.” He set the dish back down. “Kevin sent a couple of men over to my place to check it out and it seems all right. In fact, after we eat, I should take a run over there before it gets dark and pick up a change of clothing.”

Faint lines of distress appeared across her forehead for a second before suddenly disappearing. “Fine. I’ll give Dana a call. That way I won’t have to wait for her call.” She froze for a moment when the doorbell rang.

Josh jumped up and headed for the door. He took a quick peek through the peephole before opening it. He paid the delivery boy and carried the flat pizza box into the kitchen. Cabinet doors rattled as he searched for plates and glasses.

“You want some Coke with yours?”

“I guess so, since Irish Cream doesn’t go with Italian food.” Lauren sat on the floor by the coffee table, which she’d cleared off. “There’s some placemats in the drawer by the silverware drawer that I use out here,” she told him, when he’d brought in their drinks.

When she took her first bite, she savored the tangy flavors. “You know, for some reason, I always considered pizza comfort food. Right after my divorce, anytime I felt depressed, I ordered a large pizza. What I couldn’t finish that night I’d have for breakfast the next morning. I was convinced that pizza and chocolate kept me sane during that period.” She wound a string of cheese around her finger and stuck it in her mouth.

Josh wasn’t sure whether it was safe to speak, since anytime he’d brought up her divorce before, she’d backed off. He waited and hoped she’d continue talking.

Lauren looked off in the distance, as if something important was written on the walls. “Ron is one of the top detectives in the city. He can look at a crime scene and get a feel for what happened in such a way that it’s no surprise he has a high arrest rate. He never took his work home and he never brooded on a case that baffled him. In fact, the challenging ones always seemed to act as a tranquilizer. He merely assumed the answer would occur to him one day. He could handle anything that came his way. The fact that he needed other women was just an extension of his true self and he saw no harm in it.” She idly picked a mushroom off her slice of pizza and popped it in her mouth. “He was your cold, analytical cop until the night I was attacked, about two years ago.” She looked up to gauge his response.

“Robbed, beaten, what? The whole mugging routine?” He was afraid to voice the question that haunted him.

She shook her head. “Oh, I was beaten and robbed, but I was also raped. The man was one of Ron’s arrests that walked on a technicality. One of the first times he’d screwed up. It also didn’t help that the man had spent three days in the hospital because of injuries. Ron’s story was that he went after him with a pipe, so Ron had to defend himself. I guess since he knew he would lose if he went back up against Ron, he chose me instead. He caught me in the parking lot when I was leaving the morgue late one night.” She touched her nose. “My nose was broken, so was one cheekbone, the usual cuts and bruises.”