Chapter 30

The medicinal smell layered on top of the pain made me open my eyes.

A white bandage started below my left wrist and moved halfway up my arm. I stared at the bandage thinking something else had been white recently that shouldn’t have been, but I couldn’t remember what. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

Startled because I hadn’t realized I wasn’t alone, I turned to Mac’s voice.

He kissed my cheek and stroked my hair. “Didn’t mean to scare you, honey. You’re all right. What do you remember?”

Dazed, I took in my surroundings. White bedcover, yellow walls and a blue and white shiny tiled floor. “Is this a hospital?”

“Yes, and everything’s going to be fine.”

“How long have I been here?”

“About four hours.”

“What happened?”

“You were drugged, and someone cut your wrist to make it look like a suicide.”

I repositioned my head on the pillow to see him better. His face was gaunt and his eyes were lit with a fierce intensity that I’m sure intimidated. “Say again?”

“What do you remember, Laurel?”

“Mac, help me raise my head higher.” After I was upright and had drunk some water, I answered his question. “I remember leaving Delaney. Talking to Emma. Her coming over and then feeling sleepy, kind of high actually. I think I told her about Dennis and me.”

“Could Emma have done this to you?”

“No, I—it’s all fuzzy. What time is it?”

“It’s almost eight. You tested positive for Rohypnol. Emma must have done it. Otherwise, why isn’t she here? While you were knocked out, she cut your wrist, thinking it would look like a suicide. How did she get you to type that note?”

“Whoa. What? Rohypnol? Emma gave me the date rape drug?” I closed my eyes and could hear Emma’s voice and see her holding something shiny. Had it been a knife? “Rophynol?” I repeated. “Why do you think that?”

He leaned close and brushed back my hair “It’s a lot to take in, I know. Emma wanted to incapacitate you. You tested positive for the drug and even though the police first called that list of dates a suicide note, I know you better than that. There’s no way you would kill yourself.”

“Kill myself? No, of course not! Dates? I remember typing that. Emma asked me to tell her the dates of something. But I didn’t try to kill myself. Where is Emma?”

“Exactly. Where is Emma? I don’t know, but I’m going to find her.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my forehead. “Am I dreaming? Are you in my dream, Mac?”

The door opened and Dr. Patel rushed in. A sob broke free unexpectedly—this was actually happening. And if he had come all the way to Baltimore, it had to be bad news. I looked at Mac and grabbed the rail with one hand and protectively covered my stomach with the other. Mac wrapped his hand over mine on the cool metal bed frame. Had he waited until Patel got here so they could tell me together? Patel acknowledged Mac before taking my hand. A mewing sound of distress came from somewhere and I realized it had come from me.

“You came all this way?” I squeaked out.

“I had a call saying one of my pregnant patients tried to kill herself. Of course I came all this way.”

“No, no. I promise you I didn’t!”

“I see.” He took my arm, staring at my bandage, his lips puckering and unpuckering. “These babies were fine the last couple of times.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. My heart stopped while I waited for his next sentence.

“And they are fine this time, but how many times can you put them at risk?”

I spurted relief, able to breathe again. “Everything’s okay?”

Much of the darkness in Mac’s expression lifted as he joined me in my elation. “Thank God.”

“They were a little groggy.” Dr. Patel continued, “which would be expected based on your toxicology report, but they are fine. A cut a centimeter to the left and you would have bled to death in minutes. You promised me that you are going to take better care of yourself, Ms. Novak.”

“I will. I swear it. I’m going to be the model patient from here on out. I don’t have to stay in the hospital then?”

“Yes, you do. Overnight. And in the morning, we’ll see how you are feeling. When you leave, may I suggest you go to a less turbulent space, like we spoke of earlier.” He looked at Mac for added affirmation. “No more hospital visits until it’s time for you to deliver. I mean that, Ms. Novak.”

“Whatever we have to do to have healthy babies, she’ll do, Dr. Patel,” Mac said with conviction.

Rest seemed like a good idea, not that I could get Emma out of my mind, but then Detective Woodson paid me a visit next.

Mac whispered to me as Woodson approached. “I’ve got a hunch that the knife Emma used to cut you will prove to be the same knife that cut the air hose at Butler’s shop. I called Woodson about that.”

“Ms. Novak, sorry for your trouble. I understand you’ll be fine,” Woodson said.

“Thank you.”

“I also understand from McKnight here someone slipped you a roofie and then cut you. You had drinks with someone?”

“I remember having hot chocolate Emma brought with her.”

“Emma Yates?”

“Yes, she came to see me. I remember wanting to tell her about Dennis being the babies’ father. I remember typing something on my laptop and feeling sleepy, but I don’t remember anything else.”

“Rophynol has that effect.” Detective Woodson flipped open a small notebook. “So, she’s done with the rehab center, huh? How did Emma Yates get to your place?”

“Dennis’s brother brought her.”

“Butler’s brother?” He looked perplexed.

“Yes, Gabriel Butler.”

“That’s interesting. Officer Nadine Lipton drove to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, and spoke with Gabriel Butler in person. He was recuperating from a ski injury and had metal pins sticking out of his ankle.”

“What?” Mac and I spoke in unison.

“Lipton is thorough. A positive ID was made. There’s no way Gabriel Butler took Ms. Yates anywhere.”

I was stunned. Someone was posing as Dennis’s brother? I’d been alone with him in Emma’s house? I groped for words. “Who—who is he?”

Mac gave Woodson one of those cop exchange looks I’d seen him give to Detective Spoon. “Give us a minute, Laurel,” Mac said as they moved toward the door.

“No, wait. Tell me.”

Mac put up his finger. “Hold on.”

I figured it out on my own. Gabriel’s imposter must have been the broker looking to recoup his costs for arranging the hit in Delaney. Who else could he be? How had Truman described him? Tall, dark-skinned, blue coat and a black car. Literally shuddering as a chill came over me, I was thoroughly humiliated at my naiveté with this Gabriel, or whatever his name was. And with Emma. My God. She’d tried to kill me?

* * *

That next day at noon, I was back in my flat on Addison Court because Mac thought being there would help me remember more details.

“I’m surprised Rachel didn’t change the locks,” I said when Mac opened the door to my place.

“I spoke with Rachel last night when the police were here. I told her you would be moving. We have to get your furniture put into storage.” He had two large empty boxes with him and he put them on the kitchen table.

“You got the police to come? I thought they were treating it as an attempted suicide? How come there’s no crime scene tape?”

“Woodson has contacts. He got a local team to come out and process the place. Didn’t find much. No need to hold the scene. They already had the knife, but no prints on it. They took pictures, took the sheets. The cups that had the hot chocolate in them weren’t here.”

“And they are still looking for the man pretending to be Dennis’s brother, right?”

“Right.” Mac’s hand paused on the bedroom doorknob. “Ready?”

I nodded. He pushed the door open.

I gasped at the blood-stained mattress. What I saw gave the expression bloody hell an all-new meaning. Prickles rose along my whole body. “Emma was in this room with me, and I remember needing to sleep.”

“You lost a lot of blood, but you were blessed.” He took the panic alarm button off the dresser and handed it to me. “This is what saved your life.”

I left the bedroom holding it as if it were a talisman, knowing another house had evicted me. Studying my Jacob Lawrence prints, I wrapped myself in my own arms. Oh, what I would give for a spell that would suck me into that world. But I’d have to settle for moving to the opposite coast. “Mac, I’m going to California.”

Mac came out of the bedroom fuming. “What? And let Emma get away with this? You didn’t cut your own wrist! You didn’t give yourself Rohypnol.” He slammed the bedroom door behind him.

I turned toward him. “I’ll have a scar the rest of my life, but I’m going to walk away a winner because I’ll have the twins.”

“No!” I had never heard him yell before. “Emma cannot be allowed to get away with this.”

I could only look at him, too weak to argue.

He rubbed his hand over his face and came to me. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know you want to help. How did you know to come yesterday anyway?”

“You didn’t call me to say you made it back safely. I had expected to hear from you by three. When six o’clock rolled around and I couldn’t get you on your cell, at your house and even the rehab center, I came here and Rachel told me what had happened.” He hugged me. “Here’s your phone, by the way.”

I took it. Turned it on. It was still working.

“Laurel, I can’t stand the thought of anybody hurting you. Really, I cannot bear it. Don’t you know I’m in love with you? I want to be with you. I need to be with you all the time. I want you to marry me.”

My eyes brimmed over and the cadence of my heart matched a marching tune Sousa wrote. I reached for Mac’s cheek. Those were words I had longed to hear, but now were they enough?

“Oh Mac, I’ve fallen in love with you too, but in a few months I’m going to be forty-one, as big as a house and then I’ll be a crazy person with two brand-new babies to take care of. Did I mention I’m homeless and people keep trying to kill me?”

“I’m here for you. You’ll move to Delaney. It’s going to be all right.”

“I don’t know, Mac.” I sighed and sat down.

Mac sat next to me. “What don’t you know?”

I immediately stood again. “How am I going to protect my babies, Mac? I keep trying, but I keep…things keep happening. I didn’t know Emma was faking it. I should have known that. I can’t believe how stupid I was. How gullible! And to make it worse, I was alone with this man who arranges murders for a living. He could have done anything he wanted to do to me.

“I can’t…I’m so tired of being weak and wrong and vulnerable. I can’t be vulnerable anymore. Do you understand? I can’t risk one more failure. I can’t risk having one more thing in my life turn out to be something other than what I thought it was.”

I hid my face with my hands and cried. Mac stood and wrapped his arms around me, riding out my meltdown with me, saying nothing.

As my final shudders left me weak, I wiped my eyes and searched Mac’s.

“Laurel, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay. Let me take care of you. You know I would never hurt you or let anyone hurt you or the babies. Trust me. Let me love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

A heavy sigh left my body, but then his lips were on mine, soft yet demanding. Maybe this was the man I should be with. Maybe this was real love and if it was, I’d be a fool to walk away.

“Mac, is getting married feasible or are we nuts for considering it? We’ve known each other less than a month. Can I find work in Delaney? We’d have to find a place big enough for you, Drew, me, the twins and your other boys.”

His eyes twinkled. “Details. What else?”

I sighed again, feeling myself waver. “I’ve never relied on anyone in my adult life. I’ve fantasized about having the perfect life mate, but that never turns out right. I’ve fantasized about you, Mac, but it might be too late in the game for me. I have to be realistic. It’s easier not to get involved than to have to clean up the mess afterwards. Look at the mess I’m in now. And it’s not just me anymore. The twins will learn by my example.”

He took my hand in his. “Don’t be scared, Laurel. You can count on me.”

“I know you wouldn’t intentionally let me down, but things happen. Or I might disappoint you. You’ve been married twice, so you know how that happens. Romance is impossible. And look how hard the non-romantic relationships are. I didn’t let Emma down on purpose. My mother didn’t wake up one day and decide she’d rather drink than take care of me. Dennis…” I shook my head after saying his name, not needing to say more.

“Yes, relationships are incredibly hard,” Mac agreed. “People often don’t live up to our expectations and we disappoint ourselves, falling short. Sometimes we end up hurt, sometimes we hurt others unintentionally.”

“Whose side are you on?” I asked.

He smiled. “You love me. I love you. With God’s help, we’ll make it work. Stop struggling. Surrender and trust, Laurel. It’s the right thing for both of us. We can’t give up on each other because we’re afraid of getting hurt. We belong together.”

Another kiss infused with unadulterated passion lasted for several thudding heartbeats. When we finally broke apart, he looked at me with his honey-brown eyes, pressed his forehead against mine and captured my face between his hands. “After we’ve tried our best for fifty years and it doesn’t work out, you can always move to California.”

I laughed. “Thank you, Mac. You’re incredibly sweet. I need to think about it.”

“That’s fair and I’m a patient, if persistent, man. Now Laurel, tell me what else you remember about yesterday, please.”

“I think Emma told me she killed Dennis. But if she did, he got what he deserved.” I ran my hand over my taped wrist. “Just like I got what I deserved.”

He winced, shaking his head. “Please don’t talk that way. You’re feeling depressed, and that’s probably an aftereffect of the drug. Let’s think this through. Butler was killed the day before Emma transferred to the rehab center. That meant she left the hospital, drove or was driven an hour to Takoma Park, killed Dennis and then came back to Baltimore. She probably needed help slipping in and out of the hospital. Probably needed help with transportation. Any ideas?”

It didn’t take me long to answer. “One of her nurses. Tereka Moore or Cheryl Darden.”

“Not this guy posing as Dennis’s brother?”

“No, I don’t think so. Why would he need to pretend to be Dennis’s brother if he and Emma were already in cahoots at that point? I think it was Tereka. If I’m remembering correctly, she’d changed shifts and was working late that night before Emma moved to the rehab center. She and Emma are chummy. Plus, we talked about her wanting to move to Columbia so her daughters would be in a better school district. She could have done it for the money.”

Mac pulled out his phone, but looked at me before placing his call. “You’ll have to come with me, because I don’t want to leave you alone. I’m going to contact Woodson and then talk to Tereka.”

“I’m honestly not sure I’m up to it, Mac. I’ll be all right here as long as you won’t be gone long. It’s creepy, but for a short time, I’ll be fine.”

“I won’t take more than a couple of hours at most. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Sure, I won’t let anyone in, and I have my cell phone.”

“Okay. I’ll arrange for a patrol car to sit outside if possible or at least cruise the neighborhood. I’ll check the back door and you lock the front door after me. Oh, and don’t worry about packing. We’ll do that when I get back. You shouldn’t overdo it.”

As Mac opened the door to leave, Nathan came up the steps.

“I was between meetings, passing through the neighborhood and thought we could talk.” His stare settled on my belly. “Are you pregnant?”

“Yes, I am.” I beamed, standing straighter. “Mac, this is Nathan Stroud. Nathan, Wendell McKnight.”

Nathan nodded. “Is this a bad time?”

“No,” I said. “Mac was just leaving.” I ignored Mac’s frown, happy to have someone to talk to. “I’ll be fine, Mac. Nathan and I have a few things to go over.”

“Just make sure I can reach you because if I can’t, expect the guys in blue,” Mac said as he left.

“What’s going on?” Nathan asked, settling on the couch.

“I’ve got so much to tell you. You want something to drink?”

I brought him his Diet Coke, started at the beginning and told Nathan about Dennis, Truman and Emma. He held me in his arms for a long time and even kissed my bandaged arm. “That is some wild drama.”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that. I’m sorry, Nathan. And I’ll apologize to Paula too. Truman insists the caller said Helin, and that’s what led us to barking up the wrong tree.”

“Helin. You know what that sounds like, don’t you?” Nathan asked.

“What?”

“L.N.”

“What? I don’t get it?”

“L as in Laurel, N as in Novak. Now that I know Butler made the call, he probably used your initials.”

“Oh! You’re right!” The ah-ha moment blossomed into a welcomed bit of clarity. “L.N. would sound like Helin on the phone. Makes sense, and ties up that loose end.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you all along I’m more than just a pretty face,” Nathan said.

I chuckled. “You wouldn’t happen to know any fifty-year-old guys who deal in murder for hire, would you?”

“Locally? I know a lot of people who know a lot of people. I’ll ask around.”

“Nathan, I was kidding. I’m not even going to mention how scary that answer is.”

He shrugged, glancing at his watch. “What can I tell you? Lots of bad dudes out there. I’m not surprised a cat like that would have access to roofies. Listen, I’ve got a meeting at two, but I can cancel it and wait here with you until Mac comes back.”

“No, I’m all right. Don’t cancel your meeting. I’ve already thrown enough monkey wrenches into the works. Go, become a billionaire with my blessing.”

“If you insist.” He smiled and began putting on his coat. “Mac seems like a good man. You already let me slip through your fingers. A word to the wise is sufficient.”

“Thanks, Nathan.” I kissed his cheek.

Mac called ten minutes later. “We can’t find Tereka. I spoke with Cheryl Darden. She denies knowing anything. We’ll check her out more thoroughly, but I think she’s telling the truth. I’m going to stake out Tereka’s place for an hour or so and see if she shows up. She could know enough to crack this case wide open. I’ll be back soon. Did Nathan leave?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure the alarm is on, charge your cell phone and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“It’s done, Mac. Be careful. Oh Mac, wait. Let me tell you what Nathan figured out.” I told him about L.N. and Helin.

“What?” His voice ended half an octave higher. “Man, wait until I tell Spoon. Can’t believe we overlooked the obvious.”

“I know. They’re my initials and I missed it too.”