Dear Maggie

by Brenda Novak

  Still, as a cop, he’d had to initially consider the possibility that Jeff had killed her himself and made it look like Dr. Dan’s work. But that hadn’t lasted long. The forensics team found some of the same blue fibers on Marge Brown that they’d found on the other victims. And the location of the murder fit Dr. Dan’s profile. Though Discovery Park was twenty-five miles away from the Sunrise Bridge, it was right off the American River.

  Nick flipped to a statement given to Hurley by one of the Browns’ neighbors.

  Q. Did you see or hear anything coming from the Smith home on the night of June 26th?

  A. I heard some shouting but couldn’t tell what it was about. I assumed Jeff and Marge were having some sort of disagreement, which seemed to be the case when the front door opened, then slammed and Marge got in her car and peeled away.

  Q. Is this the first time you’ve ever heard the Browns argue?

  A. It’s summer, so the windows are open a lot at night. I’ve heard them fight occasionally, but not often. Usually over money. And nothing that ever escalates into violence.

  Nick’s cell phone rang. He answered it, “Sorenson,” then skipped down the report and continued reading while he waited for whoever it was to speak.

  Q. Did you see anything unusual in the neighborhood that night, like a stranger lurking around? Or an unfamiliar car parked on the street?

  A. No, nothing, or I wouldn’t have let my children play outside.

  “Hello? Are you there?” Mendez’s voice demanded in his ear, for the second time.

  Nick pulled himself away from the report long enough to respond. “Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?”

  “I just left Maggie Russell’s place.”

  Again? Mendez had been at Maggie’s again? That could only mean one thing—“Dr. Dan called,” he said, tensing.

  “You got it. Contact number two.”

  “What did he say?”

  Mendez paused. “Why don’t I just let you hear it?”

  After a moment, the same voice Nick recognized from the first recording came over the line. “Maaagggiiie…Maaagggiiee…where are you Maggie? This is Dr. Dan. You remember me, don’t you? I saw you at the grocery store last night. When you were buying some condoms to go with your brownies. Nice mix, by the way. Did you…”

  Stunned, Nick sat on the other end of the line, trying to absorb what Dr. Dan had said. He’d been following Maggie last night? And he’d seen her buy condoms? Maggie had no love life. She’d admitted as much. So why the box of rubbers?

  “What do you think?” Mendez asked.

  Nick didn’t know what to think. He was torn between concern that Dr. Dan had come close enough to see the items Maggie had purchased last night and a definite preoccupation with what those items were.

  “Maybe they were for her friend. Did she say why she bought them?” he asked.

  Mendez chuckled. “Granted, I was asking her questions that are definitely secondary in importance—you know, police stuff like whether or not she saw anyone following her—but she didn’t volunteer what she planned to do with the condoms.”

  Suddenly Nick remembered making some offhand comment about brownies and condoms. She couldn’t have been reacting to that, he thought. She wouldn’t have bought condoms for him, for them. Today when they’d talked, she’d agreed she wanted to keep their relationship strictly platonic. She regretted what had almost happened in her kitchen, didn’t she?

  If not, he was in trouble. Just the idea of her wanting what he wanted aroused him. Now that he knew about the condoms, he’d be lucky to pass the next few days without putting the entire box to good use.

  “Do you think she’ll print something to try and placate him?” Mendez asked.

  “Like Lola did? No. The Trib’s not going to play those kinds of games,” he said. “But I’m not taking any more chances. There’s no question now that Dr. Dan knows Maggie’s face. He knows what she drives and where she lives, which means I want someone watching her and her house twenty-four hours a day.”

  “Even when you’re there?” Mendez asked.

  “No.” Nick definitely didn’t want anyone watching too closely then, just in case he caved in the way he feared he would. Or maybe he was planning to cave…

  Mendez laughed again. “Sounds like someone needs to protect her from you.”

  Nick was afraid he was right.

  MAGGIE STRETCHED and sat up almost as soon as her alarm went off, interrupting her nap. Brian Wordelly had called a few hours earlier to see if they could get together tonight instead of Sunday, and to take her mind off Nick and Dr. Dan and Detective Mendez and the whole mess, she’d agreed. The intensity of her emotions over the past few weeks had left her exhausted. She was looking forward to taking a vacation from her life for a night, even if it was only with one of her mother’s blind dates. Especially because it was with one of her mother’s blind dates. A plumber from Auburn suddenly sounded appealingly simple and safe and boring enough to balance all the extremes she’d experienced of late.

  Fortunately, everything was going to work out so she could go. She’d made a quick call to Jorge, who’d agreed to trade shifts, and she was planning on having Mrs. Gruber watch Zach—provided her neighbor returned from JCPenney’s in time. All Maggie had to do was get ready, and she had an hour and a half to do it.

  Being careful not to disturb Zach, who was sleeping next to her, and Rambo, who lay at her feet, eyes now open and watching her, she slipped off the bed. Was Nick back? She paused to listen for sounds of someone else in the house, but the silence, and the fact that Rambo hadn’t deserted her and Zach in favor of his master, indicated that they were still alone. She hadn’t heard from Nick since their little “talk” in the hallway. Where was he and why had he been gone so long? And why did she miss him so badly?

  Stop! She took firm charge of her thoughts. It was Friday night, and she was going out on the town. She was going to be treated to dinner and some small talk, and she was going to forget that Dr. Dan had been following her last night in his little blue Geo. More than anything else, she had every intention of forgetting all about the raging hormones she’d experienced in her kitchen with the handsome—and incredibly talented—Nick Sorenson.

  So what to wear? She stood gazing into her closet, wondering which outfit would suit her best. She doubted Brian Wordelly would dress up, but she wanted to wear something that made her feel sleek and elegant and attractive…

  The black silk sheath dress, she decided, with her new strappy sandals. She’d paint her toenails, wear pearls at her ears and throat and look her absolute best. The outfit would probably be overkill, but she didn’t care. It was an important part of the therapy she had planned for herself.

  Maggie had just eased into a tub of hot water when Rambo barked and charged out of her room and down the hall, rousing Zach. Then she heard Nick’s voice calling to her from the other side of the bathroom door.

  “Maggie? I’m back. I swung by the office a little earlier and found a box on your chair. I brought it home for you. Looks like it’s from John.”

  Oh, no! John had sent her the gift he’d promised. Yet, only hours earlier, she’d been kissing Nick like he was the last man on earth. How was she going to explain that? “I’m in the tub,” she said. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

  But she wasn’t in any particular hurry. Nick’s footsteps retreated, and she sank lower in the water. Strangely satisfied that he was home, she told herself she’d figure everything out tomorrow.

  When Maggie was completely dressed and ready, she felt like a new woman. “This is symbolic,” she told her reflection in the mirror. “I will live through this ordeal with Dr. Dan. I will continue to build my career. And I will find a man I can love, and who can love me and Zach. No more messing around with Nick Sorenson. I’m going to be completely open-minded to Brian Wordelly. Just because my mother had a hand in our getting together tonight doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll turn out to be someone I loathe, right?” She gave
herself a bleak, unconvincing smile, but squared her shoulders and went to the living room to find Nick sitting on the couch, tossing a soft football to Zach while watching the news.

  Something squeezed her heart when she saw him so relaxed and at home on her couch, playing with her son. He looked good there, she thought. Zach was laughing and charging Nick after every catch, and Nick was flipping him onto his lap for a few tickles before sending him out for another pass. The scene definitely improved Nick’s f.p. factor—so did the yard work he’d done this morning—but Maggie wasn’t about to give him any points for it. In their “after the frenzy” talk, he’d made it very plain that he didn’t intend to get emotionally involved with her or Zach. He wanted to remain free, and she wanted to get married, which meant she needed to quit begging for the moon and start looking elsewhere, this time in earnest.

  At her approach, Nick glanced up, and Maggie felt a moment of pure female satisfaction when his jaw dropped. “Wow! You look great,” he said.

  Zach called to him to throw the ball, but Nick didn’t seem to hear him.

  Maggie smiled. “Thanks.”

  “What’s the occasion?”

  “I have a date.”

  His brows rose. “You do?”

  “Yeah. Don’t sound so surprised.”

  “I’m not surprised. I just thought, I don’t know, you’ve never mentioned anyone.”

  “Things change,” she said, not wanting to go into the whole embarrassing explanation about her mother’s constant matchmaking.

  “It’s Friday. Don’t you work tonight?”

  “Jorge’s covering for me. Besides, you seem to think you can come and go at the office any time you want. Why should I be any different?”

  “I have another job.”

  Right. He was apparently a wedding photographer, but Maggie was starting to wonder about that. She never heard him schedule anything. He never talked about the weddings he attended. She never saw any of the pictures.

  Picking up the phone, Maggie tried Mrs. Gruber again but there wasn’t any answer. She stole another look at Nick, expecting him to be watching the news by now, but he was still staring at her.

  She clasped her hands behind her back. “Any chance you could watch Zach for me?” she asked. “My date’s going to be here at seven, and I haven’t been able to reach Mrs. Gruber. I’m afraid she’s gone to visit her son in Elk Grove and won’t be back for another hour or two. She didn’t know I needed her early tonight.”

  “Okay.” He shifted on the couch and lowered the volume on the television. “So who’s the lucky guy?”

  “Nick, throw the ball!” Zach pleaded.

  Nick tossed the ball, but he didn’t watch to see if Zach caught it.

  “His name is Brian Wordelly,” Maggie said. “He’s the son of one of my mother’s friends.”

  “Looks like you went to a lot of trouble to get ready for him.” Nick’s gaze moved down her dress and over her bare legs all the way to her shoes. “You sure you want to wear that dress?”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  “Nothing. It’s just a little…I don’t know. It’s kind of bare.”

  “What?” Maggie faced the narrow decorative mirror on the far wall. “What are you talking about? This dress has a high neck and comes almost to my knee. It’s very conservative.”

  “It doesn’t seem conservative to me.”

  Maggie frowned at him. “You’re crazy.”

  “No, I’m not. That dress is sexy as hell, and you know it.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with the way I’m dressed.”

  “Not if you want this guy to make some serious moves before the night’s over, there isn’t. Or is that the plan?”

  What was he talking about? She’d never seen Nick behave so strangely. “I don’t know what your problem is,” she told him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”

  “I’m not jealous. Why would I be jealous? We’re just friends, remember? I want you to see other guys.”

  “Great. That’s what I’m doing.”

  “Right.”

  She grabbed her purse and checked for breath mints. Blind dates weren’t her forte to begin with, and now Nick had her rattled.

  “Just making sure you got everything you need in there?” he asked.

  Maggie sensed a strong undercurrent behind this question, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Nick said he wasn’t jealous, but he was sure doing a good imitation of it. “Yeah,” she said, deciding to take his question at face value to diffuse whatever was going on between them. “I think I’m ready to go.”

  “You must really like this guy.”

  “I don’t know him yet.”

  “From the looks of it, you plan to get to know him pretty well before the night’s over.”

  Maggie felt a blush creep up her neck. Was he saying all these things because of how eagerly she’d responded to his kiss? Did he think she was sex-starved or…or easy? “Are you trying to make me angry?” she asked. “Because if you don’t want to baby-sit, I can call Darla—”

  “No, I’ll take care of Zach. We were thinking about ordering a pizza, anyway. And since I’m not going into work either, maybe we’ll get some movies and popcorn and—” He paused as though trying to think of something more alluring than pizza and popcorn, then apparently gave up. “You go ahead and have your fun. We’ll be fine without you, right, buddy?”

  Then why was he making her feel so guilty for leaving them?

  “Yeah, pizza!” her son cried and started running to throw his arms around Maggie’s legs. At least, that was what she thought he was going to do. She opened her arms to receive him, but he swerved and jumped into Nick’s lap instead.

  Maggie stared at Zach in surprise, then made a face at Nick’s victorious smile. “Don’t get too attached,” she muttered to Zach, “Nick’s not going to be here long.”

  Nick didn’t comment. He looked as though he was watching television, but she knew he was only feigning interest.

  “Would you mind giving Mrs. Gruber a call in an hour or so and letting her know Zach won’t be coming over tonight, then?” she asked. “She doesn’t have an answering machine, or I’d leave her a message.”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks.” She glanced around the living room, suddenly remembering John’s present. “Where’s that box that came for me?”

  “I don’t know.” Nick settled Zach more comfortably on his knee without taking his eyes from the television.

  “You told me you brought it home.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Nick, where’s my present from John?”

  “Open it later.”

  “Why?”

  The doorbell rang, and he nodded toward the front of the house. “Because your date’s here.”

  Maggie bit her lip, wishing, for a moment, that she didn’t have to go out with a complete stranger, especially while Nick was sitting on her couch. She wanted nothing more than to snuggle up next to him.

  Calling herself a weak fool, she started for the door. “Don’t let him see you,” she told Nick as she left the room. “I don’t want to have to explain who you are.”

  Smoothing her dress and taking a deep breath, Maggie swung the door open, expecting to see a short, fat, balding man or someone with pockmarks and thick glasses, like most of the other men her mother had set her up with. Instead she saw a pleasant-looking dark-haired man about her own age wearing khakis and a golf shirt. Nearly Nick’s height, he was thin and not particularly muscular, but he had a nice smile. Brian Wordelly reminded Maggie of an accountant or maybe a lawyer. She would never have pegged him as a plumber.

  “Hi,” Maggie said. “You must be Brian. I’m Maggie.”

  He grinned. “Your mother was right. You are beautiful.”

  “Thanks. I’m all set.” She smiled and headed out, trying to drag the door closed at the same time, but something held it fast. Looking back, Maggie saw Nick’s hand
. The rest of him stood behind her.

  Brian cleared his throat as Nick looked him over. “Hello, um, I’m Brian Wordelly,” he said, sticking out his hand. “And you are…Maggie’s brother?”

  “I’m her roommate.” Nick’s gaze dropped to Brian’s hand, then returned to his face. He extended his own just seconds before Maggie was going to elbow him in the ribs.

  “What time will you two be back?” he asked Brian, ignoring Maggie’s very pointed glare.

  Brian cleared his throat again. “Um, I’m not really sure.” Maggie was positive he’d almost ended that sentence with a “sir.” “I just thought we’d go to dinner and then, possibly, a movie.”

  “So eleven o’clock?”

  “Nick’s baby-sitting for me,” Maggie rushed to explain, refusing to let Nick intimidate Brian anymore. “He probably has a hot date of his own lined up for when I return, right, Nick? He likes things quick and easy,” she told Brian. “No strings attached.”

  “I’ve never said I like things quick and easy.”

  Nick was still shaking hands with Brian, Maggie realized and stepped between them so they’d be forced apart.

  “Maybe your actions were speaking so loudly I couldn’t hear what you were saying,” Maggie said but the tone of her voice did little to relax Brian Wordelly. Remembering her manners, she added, “Thanks for watching Zach.”

  “I’ll expect you in—” Nick consulted his watch “—four hours, then.”

  What did Nick think he was doing? Her mother had finally sent her someone who could be a real possibility and Nick was trying to screw it up! Hadn’t she told him she didn’t want him to be seen? “Fine,” she said and tried to shut the door again, but Nick wasn’t finished with them yet.