Taken by Tuesday (Weekday Brides Series)

by Catherine Bybee

  “Meg has been on alert. She’s a quick study with the self-defense moves. At work, Judy is always with someone.” He looked at the time and cautioned himself for Judy’s pickup time.

  If something happened to Meg, Judy would be devastated. “We should have more eyes on Meg.”

  “We’re stretched a little thin. Dennis has an old friend I’m checking out now to help us out,” Neil said. “Good thing Michael is out of the country.”

  Rick couldn’t imagine trying to watch the movie star and his sister. “Still think we need eyes on Judy’s best friend.”

  Neil reached for the phone on his desk. “Dennis? Yeah . . . I need you at the Wolfe residence.”

  Rick nodded with agreement.

  “No, Meg. Rick is on Judy.”

  The monitor on the Beverly Hills property switched automatically, tracing movement. “Gardeners come on Thursdays,” Neil told him. “And yes, we’ve already screened them.”

  “I’m out of here. Gotta go pick up my girl.”

  “Be safe out there,” Neil said.

  Rick patted his sidearm. “I’m always safe.”

  Judy’s palms were moist with anticipation. Today was the day . . . the day she walked back in that garage, got in a car just like every other employee, and drove home. Well, Rick would do the driving. The results would be the same.

  “You ready for this?” Rick asked as they stood outside the elevator doors in the foyer of Benson & Miller.

  “No. But I can’t avoid this forever. The sooner I get it done, the better.”

  He held her hand and called the elevator. Inside were several people from the building, most of them chatting with each other and completely oblivious of her discomfort. Rick pressed P-3, the very level where the attack had taken place, and stood back.

  They inched toward the garage and Judy forced slow, deep breaths into her lungs as if she were Meg and her lungs were closing in.

  The doors to P-3 opened and Rick encouraged her first step out the double doors. The others in the elevator stepped around them when she and Rick didn’t move fast enough for their taste. Judy noticed the nameless employees walking in separate directions from each other. “How soon everyone forgets.”

  Rick narrowed his brow.

  Judy nodded toward the lone woman walking to her car.

  “Human nature. People never think something will happen to them until it does. Truth is, you’ve walked into a parking garage all your life and never thought twice about it. Now you’ll think about it every time.”

  Judy’s gaze moved to find her car. The garage was still busy, even for a Friday night when many employees left early.

  Rick directed her away from the elevator and kept a hand on the small of her back. With him at her side, the space didn’t suffocate her . . . until she rounded the corner and her eyes drifted to the dark corner her attacker took advantage of.

  “Oh, God.”

  “I’m right here. Deep breath.”

  She sucked in one and then another. “I’m OK.”

  The elevator far behind them dinged and the sound of voices traveled in their direction. Rick continued to walk toward her car. She avoided looking at the corner and hurried into the car.

  Rick closed her door and walked around to the driver’s seat. Once inside, she pressed the door lock, closing them inside.

  Only when he pulled out of the parking lot did he ask how she was doing.

  As the building slowly disappeared in the rearview mirror, her heartbeat slowed to normal. “It wasn’t that bad.”

  “You’re such a bad liar.”

  She wiped her palms on her skirt. “OK, it sucked.”

  “It sucked, but each time it will get better.”

  He leaned over and opened the glove compartment. Inside was what looked like a cell phone. On closer inspection, it looked like a child’s toy meant to look like a cell phone.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a stun gun meant to look like a cell phone.” They’d talked about carrying a stun gun when they practiced self-defense. “I have one for Meg, too.”

  She opened the box and removed the device.

  “You put the strap on your wrist and hold it.”

  Judy placed the strap next to her bracelet and put her thumb over the button on the side.

  “It makes a lot of—”

  She pressed the button and the car filled with an electrical buzz that made her jump. From the fake cell phone, an arc of electricity moved between the two points at the top.

  “Noise,” Rick finished with a laugh. “You press that against an attacker and he’ll be down. I guarantee it.”

  “What if he takes it and uses it against me?”

  They stopped at a light and Rick grabbed the device from her hand. The wristband stayed on her arm. He pressed the button and nothing happened. “The current is cut off when that pin is disconnected.”

  The light turned green and she connected the device again and pressed the button. Sure enough, it worked perfectly. “Clever.”

  “And effective. Remember to place it on your wrist when you leave work, or are alone working out . . . anytime, really.”

  She tucked it in her purse and left it there. She wouldn’t need it any time soon. Not with Rick at her side.

  Lucas and Dan met the three of them at Penthouse Pool. “This place is a dive!”

  “Completely,” Meg said with a huge smile. “It’s part of its charm.”

  Rick didn’t see charm . . . he saw a dirty bar with equally sketchy patrons.

  “Cheap beer,” Lucas added.

  “Cheap pool,” Dan said.

  “Cheap people who don’t want to part with twenty bucks lost in a game?” Rick asked.

  Judy shrugged. “I think you’re looking under the wrong tablecloth, babe. I played one person who gave up after what, one game, Meg?”

  “Yeah, I think it was only one.”

  “What about the guy who hit on you when Meg told him you were lesbians?” Lucas asked.

  Rick looked at his little pixie with surprise and admiration.

  “It’s a great excuse,” she told him. “And again . . . I don’t think so. He didn’t look back.”

  “Let’s grab a table, play a couple rounds, and see if anything comes back to you.” The beer was cheap, but to be safe, Rick stayed away from the tap and grabbed a round of bottles for their little party.

  Dan and Judy played a game while Rick sat watching beside Meg and Lucas. While they chatted, Rick studied the bar. The five of them stood out for their sobriety. It was early and there were already men sloshy drunk and leaning against the bar for support.

  “It looks like she’s bouncing back,” Lucas said.

  “She is,” Meg said with a sigh. “But . . .”

  “But what?” Rick asked.

  “She’s not back completely. I can’t even put my finger on why I feel that way. She bitched about work all the time, before. Now there’s almost nothing.”

  “Work is getting better.”

  “Yeah. I know.” Meg glanced at Judy taking down a striped ball. “It’s little things. She’s not spending any time online decompressing with those stupid games she plays. She stares off sometimes.”

  Rick took a swig from his beer. “She plays games on her computer?”

  “On her tablet, mainly. She was obsessed with this war game and now she doesn’t play it at all. It’s stupid, I know . . . but it was her favorite procrastination pastime.”

  Lucas nudged Meg and looked toward Rick. “Maybe she has a new favorite procrastination pastime.”

  “I guess that’s true. She hasn’t had a lot of alone time since all this happened.”

  Meg didn’t sound convinced. If anyone really knew Judy, it would be her best friend.

  Something at the front door distracted his attention away from Meg.

  Wearing suits, and not even trying to blend in, walked Detective Raskin and Detective Perozo. Damn it. He’d been waiting for the shoe to fall,
and it looked as if it was about to.

  “Is that . . . ?”

  “Yeah.”

  Raskin noticed them and started walking their way.

  Rick wasn’t sure if the room grew quiet, or his own anxiety had him hearing his heart beating in his ear. “Hey, Utah?”

  Judy lifted her gaze and followed his stare. The small smile she’d managed since they walked in the room disappeared. She tossed the cue on the table and moved to his side.

  “You don’t think—”

  “I do. Call Neil,” he told her.

  “What’s going on?” Dan asked.

  Rick looked at the other men. “Stay with the girls until Neil or someone on his team relieves you.”

  “Where are you going?” Lucas asked.

  Raskin stopped in front of them. Judy slid her arm around Rick’s shoulders.

  “Hello, Judy.” Raskin addressed her first.

  “Detective.”

  “Mr. Evans.”

  “Detective.”

  No one said a word. The music on the jukebox filled the room; the attention of everyone in the bar was on them.

  “We have a few more questions for you, Mr. Evans.”

  A few questions . . . right!

  “I can come in the morning and answer them.”

  Raskin actually laughed. “We’d like you to answer them now.” He nodded toward the door.

  Well, I had to try.

  Judy sat on his lap and glared at the detective. “You’re looking in the wrong direction.” Her voice hitched higher.

  “Mr. Evans, let’s do this quietly, shall we?”

  “He didn’t do any—”

  Rick cut Judy off. “Stay in control, babe.” He kissed her cheek. “Call Neil and stay with the team.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Lucas asked.

  Rick helped Judy to her feet and stood. He placed his hand on his front pocket and Raskin turned to the side and bared his gun.

  Rick stopped, placed his hands in the air. “Keys to the car so Judy can get home.”

  “I’ll help you with that.”

  Before the detective approached, he lifted his hands higher. “I’m carrying two. Right side and left leg.”

  He didn’t stop the detective from removing his firearms and the keys to Judy’s car.

  Taking no chances, Raskin turned him around and slapped cuffs on him before he marched him outside.

  “Holy shit!” Dan yelled. “What’s going on?”

  Dan and Lucas followed behind along with Judy and Meg.

  A crowed gathered as Raskin frisked him before putting him in the back of the unmarked sedan.

  Meg had her arm around Judy’s shoulders. Instead of falling apart, Judy looked like she wanted to hurt someone. Stay in control. Stay alert. He hoped his thoughts made it to her head with nothing more than his eyes.

  “Am I under arrest or what?” Rick asked as they pulled away from the curb.

  Raskin turned in his seat. “You have the right to remain silent . . .”

  Well, that answered that!

  Something inside her fractured when she watched the police put Rick in the back of a car in handcuffs. Rick made her feel safe, gave her the confidence to walk tall and dare anyone to touch her. He was one of the good guys . . . the guy your mom tells you about . . . the one you wait for.

  As the car drove away, she was vaguely aware of her friends talking. She opened her purse, found her phone, and called Neil. While the phone rang she pocketed the stun gun Rick had given her only hours before.

  “MacBain,” Neil answered.

  “It’s Judy. They took Rick in.”

  There was no surprise in Neil’s voice. “Where are you?”

  She gave him her location and looked up and down the block. The small crowd from the bar was already moving back inside. “Meg and I are here with friends. I don’t know where they are taking him, Neil. Do you have any idea?”

  “I’ll find out. Don’t worry about Rick.”

  She blew out a frustrated sigh. “That’s like asking you not to worry about Gwen. Listen, I’ll head home and wait for you there.”

  Neil agreed only after she agreed to have the men in the car with them.

  The drive home was quiet. Judy let Meg show Lucas and Dan around the house while she turned on the outside lights and looked around like she’d seen Rick do more than once. Confident that no one was lurking in the shadows, she placed a call to Mike, asking him to call her back as soon as he could . . . day or night. Asking for his financial help for Rick was easier than asking for herself. She had no experience with bail and jail . . . but she’d learn.

  “They really think Rick attacked you?” Dan asked when they were all waiting for Neil to show up.

  “It wasn’t him,” she told them. “Not even close.”

  “Judy didn’t actually see the guy. The only thing the police are going on is a lack of an alibi,” Meg told them.

  “They have to have more than that . . . don’t they?”

  Judy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Neil arrived with Russell, and Dan and Lucas left with a promise to call in the morning.

  Neil wasn’t a hugger, which suited Judy at the moment. Sympathy might have flashed on the man’s face, but he wasn’t going to dwell on it. “Blake has a call in to his lawyers. We should have suits on the ground in a few hours. The problem is the weekend. We think the detectives purposely made the arrest tonight to spread out any arraignment, keep him away from you longer so they can approach you without him close by.”

  “Why do they need to approach me? I don’t have anything else to say to them. And if they’re going to try and use my words to prosecute the wrong guy, I’ll just keep quiet.”

  “It’s not that simple, Judy. This isn’t a domestic violence issue, cut-and-dry . . . you can’t drop the charges. The district attorney is who will file charges against Rick since they think he’s responsible for the attack.”

  “He didn’t do it!” She was yelling at the messenger and tossed her hands in the air to calm herself. “Sorry. I’m not mad at you.”

  “Be prepared for the police showing up to talk to you.”

  “Do I have to cooperate?”

  “No. We have a separate lawyer on call for you, someone to advise and help direct questions. If the police show up, tell them you want counsel present. They have to respect that. It won’t keep them from talking at you, however.”

  “I put a call in for Mike. I’m sure he’ll post the bail money.”

  “I have that covered, Judy.”

  Her relief only lasted a minute. “Now what?”

  Neil blinked . . . twice. “We wait.”

  “Great! We wait and the bastard that knocked me around is still out there and the man who has protected me is in jail. How is that fair?” She wanted to scream, wanted to hit something.

  “Russell will stay here. I’m going to the station and meet up with the attorneys.”

  “Can’t I come with you?”

  “There’s no point. Chances are the only one who will see Rick is the lawyer until he’s released.”

  “And when will that be?”

  “Best guess . . . Monday, if the judge grants bail.”

  “Why wouldn’t the judge grant bail?”

  “I don’t have that answer.” Neil didn’t seem happy about his own information.

  Neil left a few minutes later and Judy removed her laptop from her room and set it up on the table in the kitchen before brewing a pot of coffee.

  “What are you doing?” Meg asked when she returned from her room wearing her pajamas.

  “Crash course in law school. The evidence they have on Rick can’t be any more than circumstantial. The question is how much can they assume before a judge thinks it’s fact?”

  It looked like Meg agreed with the idea of research when she returned with her own computer and poured a cup of coffee for herself. Hell, two newly retired college students knew their way around the Internet mo
re than most.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Meg sat on the couch, her laptop on her thighs, one foot perched on the coffee table while she nibbled on popcorn. “According to this website, there’s a good chance they will put you on the stand if Rick goes to trial. Even if you’re a hostile witness.”

  “You think they’d do that?”

  “I’m not the one to ask. I didn’t think they’d actually arrest Rick.”

  Russell had taken up residence in one of the bedrooms, where he was hooking up surveillance equipment to show all the cameras around the property inside the house.

  “I’ll plead the Fifth.”

  Meg laughed. “You can’t do that. Only Rick can. He’s the one on trial.”

  “He’s my boyfriend, there has to be something I can plead.”

  Meg clicked around the website she was on to see if there was something her friend could do to avoid giving testimony at any trial Rick might face. The word spouse had many links so she flipped through them. “Hmm . . .”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t find anything for a girlfriend. But if you were Rick’s wife, you wouldn’t be forced to testify. The laws are clear on this point everywhere.”

  Judy moved from her perch at the table to sit beside Meg.

  She scrolled the page to the beginning and pointed at the passage. “A spouse has testimonial privileges, the right to not testify. A spouse also has privileged communication where the conversations between spouses are confidential.”

  Judy leaned back and stared beyond the computer, thinking. “So if Rick and I were married, and I’m the only witness . . . I won’t have to testify.”

  Meg wasn’t sure she liked the deductive look in her friend’s eyes. “Judy! You can’t be serious.”

  Judy snapped her gaze to Meg. “My boyfriend is sitting in jail simply because he’s in my life.”

  “But marriage?”

  Judy pushed off the couch, now on a new mission. “If the Kardashians can marry for the sake of cameras and cash, I can get married to keep Rick out of jail. Besides, don’t you arrange temporary marriages for a living now?”

  “Well, yeah . . . eventually.” She hadn’t made a match yet, but she would. “What are you looking up now?”