“Heather, honey what’s wrong?”
In answer, she pointed to the coffee table, and when Parker gazed down at it, he saw a pair of red panties and a distinctive horseshoe-shaped barrette that he recognized as belonging to Rachel.
When he looked back at Heather, he saw that she was crying.
Chapter 27
Timothy Hearn glanced over at Rachel when the knock came on the office door, the one that opened onto the rear parking lot.
“Are you expecting anyone?”
“No,” she said.
When Hearn got up from the desk and opened the door, he found Nico staring at him.
“What are you doing here?”
Nico smiled.
“It’s good to see you too... partner.”
Nico walked in, his limp obvious, and sat on the sofa beside Rachel.
“You’re Timmy’s new wife, right?”
“Yes.”
Nico looked her over.
“He’s got good taste, very good taste, and I don’t know if you know it or not, but Timmy and I are partners, so expect to see more of me.”
She looked at him and then at Hearn.
“What’s going on, Tim?”
Hearn grabbed an office chair and slid it over so that he could sit and face Nico.
“I’m sorry about what that crazy old man did to you, and I’ll give you some money to get you on your feet, but things have changed. My lawyer told me if you were to claim to have no memory of what happened, that the cops would have a tough time building a case against you for Charles Woolley’s death.”
“But I do remember, and since you’re talking in front of her, I take it that your wife knows things too?”
“She had to get involved. I was actually with her the night that Woolley died.”
“Ah, so that means that I have both of you for an alibi.”
“I’ll give you ten thousand dollars.” Hearn said.
Nico laughed.
“Ten grand? Hell, this place must do that much a night, but I’m not greedy, so how about you pay me two grand a week, cash, so that I’ll leave you alone.”
“Two thousand a week? Nico, that’s crazy, no, I’ll give you the ten grand and then we’re through.”
Nico sighed dramatically as he shook his head.
“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, have you learned nothing from the past? I drove the customers away before and I can do it again, or maybe something will happen to the little wife here.”
Anger flashed on Hearn’s face, but he kept his temper in check and spoke calmly to Nico.
“Don’t threaten her, and don’t threaten me, it’s stupid, Nico. We’re in the clear for a homicide investigation; the last thing we need is the police sniffing around. We’ll work out the money, okay?”
“It’s already worked out. Two grand a week for life, and I expect the first payment tomorrow.”
“That’s how you’re going to play this?”
“Why not? What’s a punk ass like you gonna do?”
Hearn shot out of his seat so fast that Rachel jumped. He grabbed Nico by the collar, lifted him off the sofa, and then punched him in the stomach, twice.
Nico fell to his knees as he tried to catch his breath, and Hearn punched him on the side of the head, sending him to the floor, where he lay on his back between the coffee table and the sofa. He was gasping for air.
Rachel brought her feet up to sofa, with her arms wrapped around her legs, in an effort to stay clear of Nico.
Hearn leaned over and laughed at him.
“Look at you, you’re a shadow of what you were, I knew that when you came limping in here like an invalid. Now listen to me, if I ever see you again, I will hire two punks just like you to beat you back into a coma, you got me?”
Nico nodded, he was still on his back, but his breathing was better. On the sofa, Rachel took in the scene with a look of terror in her eyes.
It took Nico nearly a minute to rise to his feet, and he had to use the coffee table to do it. He went hobbling back out the way he came in, but as he was closing the door, his eyes met Rachel’s, and she felt a chill pass through her.
Hearn spat at the door.
“That’s how you handle punks.”
“Tim,”
“What?”
Rachel shivered again as she remembered Nico’s eyes.
“I think you just made a big mistake.”
Parker picked up the items from the coffee table.
“I recognize this hair pin, or whatever you call it. Rachel bought two of these years ago while we were vacationing in Mexico, and I guess these panties are hers too?”
Heather wiped at tears, even as new ones took their place.
“Are you sleeping with her?”
Parker dumped the items back onto the table and then sat on the edge of it, so that he was facing her.
“I am not sleeping with her. She must have planted these things the last time she was here.”
“Why would she do that?”
“I don’t know. It’s like she’s determined to bring me down to her level, and she also can’t stand how happy I am with you.”
Heather stared at him.
“Timothy Hearn told me that you were sleeping with Rachel, but I didn’t believe it.”
“When did he tell you that?”
“A few days ago, and you did tell me that she was here that night. Did something happen, a, a moment of weakness?”
“No! Heather, I am not sleeping with anyone but you. I love you.”
She pointed at the table.
“Then why are those here?”
Parker took her hands in his and stared into her eyes.
“I love you and would never do anything to risk what we have, do you believe me?”
Heather stared back at him, then down at the table, before staring searchingly into his eyes once more.
She left the house minutes later, and headed off to find Rachel.
Hearn had left the bar after his encounter with Nico, but Rachel stayed in the office.
She was nervously pacing back and forth when Heather barged in from the kitchen entrance and tossed the barrette and panties at her.
They fell to the floor, and Rachel sent Heather a smile.
“Well, now you know,”
“He still says nothing happened, but I’m not a fool.”
“That’s debatable,”
“How long has it been going on?”
Rachel looked into Heather’s red eyes and smiled.
“It never ended. Rick and I can’t seem to live together, but we also can’t keep our hands off each other.”
“I loved him.”
“So, I loved him first.”
Tires screeched to a stop outside, followed by a horn blaring. Rachel looked out the window and saw Parker sitting in his Mustang. A moment later and he yelled for her.
“Rachel! Rachel get out here,”
She let the curtain drop back in place and turned to look at Heather.
“He’s mad at me now, but soon we’ll be having make-up sex.”
Heather’s face screwed up in pain.
“The hell with both of you!”
Rachel watched her run back out into the kitchen as Parker blew his horn again.
With a smile on her face, Rachel went out to see him.
“Hello Rick, what’s the matter, did you miss me?”
Parker jumped out of his car and grabbed her by the arm. He then looked around and realized that a couple returning to their vehicle were watching them.
“Let’s get inside so we can talk.”
Rachel went in first. She then lay back on the sofa, and as she did so, her skirt slid higher.
Parker spotted the barrette and panties.
“Heather was here?”
“She just left, and oh, she said to tell you to go to hell.”
Parker sat on the edge of the desk and sighed.
“Why did you plant those things at my house?”
; “I was hoping they would have the desired effect, and did they ever,”
“Do you hate me, Rachel, is that it?”
The smirk left Rachel’s face and she went to him.
“I love you, Rick, and I know better than to promise that I’ll be faithful, but isn’t some of me better than none of me?”
“We ended a long time ago, and I love Heather now.”
“Don’t say that, and besides, she’ll never trust you again. She’s as self-righteous as you are.”
“She said that Hearn thinks we’re sleeping together, was he helping you to set me up?”
“He wants Heather, I want you, so we made a deal.”
“That’s some marriage you got there,”
Rachel began unbuttoning his shirt.
“Enough talk, let’s go over to the sofa and I’ll make you forget all about young Heather.”
“Get your hands off him before I shove those panties down your throat!”
Rachel spun around at those words and saw Heather walking out of the bathroom.
“But you, you left... I saw you.”
Heather walked past her and fell into Parker’s arms.
“What’s the matter, you don’t like being tricked?”
Rachel stared at Parker and then at Heather, who was looking back at her with sad eyes.
Heather shook her head.
“I can’t even be mad at you for what you did. I just think the whole thing is pathetic.”
“Don’t pity me you red-headed bitch, and you can kiss your job goodbye.”
Heather laughed.
“As if I’d keep working here, c’mon, Rick, let’s go home.”
They headed out the back door and Rachel called to Parker.
“I still love you, Rick,”
Parker said nothing, but just closed the door on her words.
At the car, he and Heather kissed.
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“I should have never doubted you, even for an instant, but she nearly fooled me.”
Parker held up her left hand and stared at the engagement ring.
“Were you wearing this the whole time?”
“Yes, and she never noticed it.”
“Would you like to go tell your mother that we’re engaged?”
“Later, right now I just want to be alone with you.”
“I love you, Heather,”
She grinned.
“I believe you.”
Chapter 28
Nico stumbled back into his motel room, his head pounding, his stomach afire.
He fell back onto the bed with a loud exhalation and gazed up at the ceiling, as his mind replayed the events of the last hour.
Timothy Hearn, a preppy piece of shit like Timothy Hearn, had not only disrespected him, but had kicked his ass in the bargain, and had done it in front of a woman.
There was only one way to pay back such behavior, but Nico knew that if he went after Hearn that the outcome would be the same. The coma had left him too weakened to compete physically in a fight, but then, who said it had to be a fair fight?
Nico lay in the dark plotting revenge, and as the plan formed in his mind, the thought of the anguish he would inflict on Timothy Hearn seemed to ease his own pain, and he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.
The next day was a Saturday, and after sleeping late, Parker and Heather went to her house to tell her mother the good news.
Lyla Jones hugged her daughter, and looked over at Parker.
“You’ve known each other less than a year, you don’t waste time, do you, Rick?”
“I know a good thing when I see it.”
She opened her arms.
“Come here, you’re part of the family now.”
Parker hugged her and was surprised to see a genuine smile on her face when they parted. He had always suspected that Heather’s mother didn’t like him much, but news of their engagement seemed to sway her opinion the other way. Perhaps she only needed proof of Parker’s affection for her daughter before she would give her own.
As they ate lunch in the dining room, Heather’s mom gave them some news.
“You’re selling the house?” Heather said in surprise.
“Yes, you practically live with Rick now, and once you move out after the wedding, I’ll really have no need for a house this size.”
“Wow, it will be weird not to have the house to come to. I mean I grew up here, but I see your point.” Heather said.
“Your Aunt Jenny’s house is bigger than this, and with her kids gone and Uncle Bill passed on she’s been pretty lonely, and she asked me a few weeks ago if we’d like to move in with her. Now that you’re getting married, I just might take her up on that.”
“That sounds great, Mom, you and Aunt Jenny always were close, and that way you’ll be able to look out for each other.”
“What about that research project, have you heard from them yet?”
“Not yet, but the decision should come in the mail any day now. Oh, if I wasn’t so happy about my engagement I’d be a nervous wreck.”
“Don’t you have to work, or have you taken the day off?” Lyla Jones asked.
“I quit last night.”
“Why?”
Heather told her mother about Rachel’s scheme, and Lyla gave Parker a worried look.
“Just how crazy is this ex-wife of yours?”
“She’s not violent, and in time I’m sure she’ll move on, but I don’t want to talk about her, I just want to concentrate on Heather and our future.”
“A future that includes her becoming a doctor, correct?”
“Absolutely, I have no intention of derailing her goals; I also plan to take up the slack of her lost job so that she’ll have more time to study.”
Heather gave him a surprised look.
“I can find another job, Rick, the finances don’t have to fall on your shoulders alone.”
“I know medical school can be grueling, and once you intern you’ll start earning a salary again, but until then, I’ll cover our expenses so that you can concentrate on your studies.”
“All right, but hopefully I’ll get this position with the research project and have my tuition paid for by them. That will be a tremendous help.”
They stayed a while longer, talking and laughing, but then decided to go see a movie. They invited her mother to join them, but she declined.
After climbing into the car, Heather gave Parker a long kiss.
“What was that for?”
Heather ran a hand along his thigh.
“I don’t really feel like a movie, do you?”
Parker smiled. “No, let’s go home.”
“You know, I still have that slutty Taggart’s uniform,”
“Ooh la la,” Parker said, and Heather giggled.
Rachel left Taggart’s just after midnight. She locked the office door, but as she turned to walk down the stairs, she saw Nico leaning against her car. She jumped in fright, and found herself frozen in place.
“I’ve come for my money.” Nico said.
“The ten-thousand?” Rachel said, in a voice that was not much more than a whisper.
“Two thousand, two thousand a week, every week,”
“Tim won’t pay you,” Rachel said loudly, as her nerve came back,
“He’ll pay, one way or another, he’ll pay,”
Rachel searched the contents of her purse and took out a small canister of pepper spray.
“Don’t come near me,”
Nico’s eyes roamed over her.
“You are hot, Blondie; I think you and I could have a good time.”
“Go away or I’ll call the police.”
“We’re just talking, for now, just talking,”
Nico was still leaning against the car, and he looked so thin and weak that Rachel figured that even she good take him in a fight, but... she didn’t like those eyes. Nico’s eyes were full of malice, malice and determination.
“If
I make Tim give you more, maybe twenty thousand, would you leave us alone then?”
“Two thousand, two thousand a week, every week,” Nico said, as if the words were a mantra.
Rachel opened her mouth to reply when Nico began shuffling away with that old man limp he now possessed. She watched him until he climbed into a rusted Chevy and drove off.
She went down the stairs, unlocked her car, and then froze. Lying on the driver’s seat was her wedding picture in its antique, silver frame. She and Hearn kept that picture on the mantle over their fireplace. Nico had been in their home.
Rachel tossed the picture onto the passenger seat and got in the car. After locking it, she took out her phone and called her husband to let him know that Nico was not backing down.
On Sunday, Parker and Heather met Jo and Matt for lunch, and Matt filled them in on the emergency call he had made that morning to Timothy Hearn’s home.
“Didn’t he have an alarm system already?” Parker asked.
“Yeah, but it was just basic and he and his wife admitted that they don’t always set it, they didn’t say so, but I got the impression that something scared them, and that maybe someone broke in.” Matt said; he was white, mid-thirties, with curly brown hair and emerald eyes.
“I checked and they didn’t file a report.” Jo said.
Parker leaned back, looking thoughtful,
“When she came to see me to plant those items, she also told me that she was worried about Nico Umbria, I wonder now if that was actually the truth. Maybe Hearn and Nico have had a falling out.”
“I upgraded their home system by adding more motion detectors, and I also installed deadbolts and window guards. I definitely think they’re concerned about something.” Matt said. “I’m also scheduled to add some upgrades to Taggart’s security.”
“Jo,” Parker said. “Would you mind talking to Nico again? I would do it, but the chief wants me to stay away from anything connected with Hearn. I even had to talk him into letting me work at Taggart’s on the night of the reopening.”
“I’ll go by his motel on my way to work tomorrow. Anyway, I want Nico to know that I haven’t forgotten him.”
“Thanks,”
Parker & Knight Page 15