A Carol for Kent

by Hallee Bridgeman

  She still loved him. She always had, save the eight years or so when she thoroughly loathed him. To know that he loved her too was something she never would have anticipated, not even as recently as a mere month ago.

  Now she knew she was over-analyzing, as she would the significance of a piece of evidence from a crime scene, and she worried that she would make the wrong decision. Once someone saw the ring on her finger, there would be no turning back. And the person that it would impact the most was barreling down the stairs at that moment, about to burst through the kitchen door, and Carol still hadn’t decided how she was going to tell her.

  Right at that moment, Bobby came in the back door, and she looked up and met his eyes, and she knew. She loved Bobby, he loved her, and they had an eight-year-old child together. Perhaps without the latter, they could slow down and get to know each other better, but it was important to Lisa that they skip the courtship and create a real family. The chemistry was right, and they would have the rest of their lives to discover each other’s eccentricities and secrets.

  “Mom, I need you to braid my hair!” Lisa yelled, running into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw Bobby, then made a beeline for him. “Hi, Daddy! What are you doing here?” she asked excitedly, throwing herself into his arms.

  “Lisa, honey, sit down. Your daddy and I need to talk to you about something very important,” Carol said. She pulled out the chair next to her and patted the seat.

  BEFORE the ink had dried on the first tabloid that carried a picture of Bobby and Carol, Gary called wanting to know what was going on in Richmond. Bobby had been evasive, knowing what he was planning, but wanting to keep it to himself for a while.

  Now he sat in his house and dialed the phone, knowing that somehow, in the paparazzo’s magical way, word would get out. Rather than deal with rumors and innuendoes, he wanted to get ahead of things for once. He would much rather face them head-on with a firm grip on the horns, starting with his own statement. It was going to be a bigger deal than most announcements of engagements from Music City, because there was a child involved, but Bobby smiled at the thought, knowing how much Gary enjoyed playing with the press. Bobby knew Gary planned to work from Bobby’s offices today, working with his PR team on an upcoming album, making the timing of this call perfect.

  Shelly Wright, Bobby’s personal secretary, answered the phone, so Bobby bantered with her for a while, then she patched him through. “Gary, my man, how’s it going?”

  “All’s quiet on this end. Doesn’t look like it’s quiet for you over there. What’s new?”

  “I need you to get a statement ready for me. Press release,” Bobby said, pulling his coffee cup closer.

  “WHAT’S that I see on your finger?” Rhonda asked, staring at her hand. Carol couldn’t stop the grin. She’d been at work an hour, and no one had noticed. She’d never worn anything that felt so conspicuous in her life, and had been wondering how long it would take someone to notice.

  “Bobby proposed last night,” Carol said, waving her hand.

  “Wow. That seems… really fast.” Rhonda looked thoughtful. “Are you sure it isn’t too soon?”

  She shrugged. “Not really. Besides, we aren’t getting married tomorrow. It’ll be a few months before anything can happen. We both want a real wedding, with flowers and guests, and God and witnesses – the whole nine yards.”

  “So, when do you think it will be?”

  “Sometime in the early fall.” Carol pulled her keyboard closer to her and pulled up a file. “No specific date yet.”

  “Well, congratulations, my friend. You’ve gained quite a catch.”

  Carol grinned a silly grin that felt too big for her face. “I really have.”

  CHAPTER 24

  CAROL leaned back in her chair and rubbed her aching eyes. She looked at her watch, but it was only three. She needed to get more sleep tonight than she’d been getting lately, or else she was going to cease to function. When she opened her eyes, she jumped a little when she saw Mitch standing in her doorway.

  “Seems congratulations are in order,” he said, holding up his phone to show her the news story about her engagement to Bobby.

  “Wow,” Carol said, “that was pretty immediate. I guess this really is the age of information.”

  “Seems like bad timing, don’t you think?” He stepped into her office and gently closed the door.

  “Will the timing ever be good?”

  “I can think of months that didn’t end up quite so busy,” he said with a wry grin. “But, I hope you don’t end up distracted with all those hearts floating around in your eyes.”

  Carol snorted. “There are more than 700 police officers in this city. Do you know how many attorneys do what I do?”

  “Carol…”

  “That’s right. One. Me. I get the violent crimes. Sometimes another attorney is on the case, but not all the time.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning, I’m pretty used to my attention getting split all over the place all the time. You are getting a lot of pressure. I understand that. But, I’m not going to put my life on hold just because of some maniac out there. Say we catch this guy tomorrow. There are still seven other murder cases on my desk this month. And you and I both know the way this one is going, we may never find out who’s behind this.”

  “God help us if that’s the case.” He gestured at her computer. “Autopsy reports are in for Brooks. Same cocktail. She had about twice the amount of drug in her system.”

  “He really was angry.”

  He pursed his lips. “What could she have done to make him so mad? I’m thinking the drug is to loosen them up so that they get dressed and such complacently. Do you think maybe she didn’t respond well to the drug?”

  “Possibly. Maybe it made her sick or something. The M.E. report show anything?”

  “She’d been hit with a blunt instrument many times. Her body was not treated well, before or after death.”

  Carol nodded. “Until now, it’s almost like he was worshiping each victim. With her, it was like he was punishing her.”

  Mitch stood. “I have a feeling that the psych report on this guy is going to be extreme.”

  “Indeed.” She turned to her computer and clicked all the appropriate links to pull up the autopsy report.

  “Congrats on the wedding thing, I guess,” Mitch said without a smile. “Wifey will be tickled if we get invites to the wedding.”

  Engrossed in the report, she barely looked from it. “Of course. How could I not invite your wife?”

  Mitch barked a laugh and opened the door. As Carol looked toward him to tell him good-bye, she spotted Jack Gordon, leaning against the wall across from her door, hands crossed over his chest with a very eerie smile on his face.

  Just as she looked away from him, her cell phone rang. The number looked familiar, so she answered it.

  “Carol Mabry,” she said.

  “Ms. Mabry, this is Caroline Adams at Lisa’s school.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid that Lisa has a touch of the stomach ‘flu. I know that there’s only a half an hour left in the day, but we need you to come pick her up,” she said.

  Carol sighed to herself. She’d had a feeling this was coming. “I’ll be there right away. Thank you for calling.” She hung up the phone and turned to Mitch. “Lisa’s sick. I have to go.”

  “Anything I can do?”

  “Yeah. You can keep your partner away from me,” she said, grabbing her briefcase and purse.

  He frowned. “Maybe we need to talk soon. I hope Lisa feels better.”

  As she stepped out of her office, she said to Jack, “Always a pleasure, Detective.”

  Jack Gordon actually waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll remember it always.”

  As Carol left the office, she ignored the reporters, who followed her to her Jeep Cherokee. During the drive, she forced herself to quit puzzling through autopsy reports and discoveries and just shift to
being a mom Lisa’s school. Once there, she went around the line of cars filled with parents waiting to pick up their children, and parked in the parking lot. She went into the school where the receptionist handed her the forms to sign her out, then directed her to the nurse’s station, where she found a very pale Lisa lying on a cot.

  “Hey there, sweetie. Are you ready to go home?” she asked, then turned to the nurse. “Thank you. I admire anyone who can do your job.”

  “The feeling is mutual, Ms. Mabry. I hope you feel better soon, Lisa,” she said, and went back to putting a Band-Aid on the knee of a little boy.

  Carol held Lisa’s hand, wishing she didn’t have on high heels so she could carry her daughter to the car. They had to stop in the parking lot so Lisa could get sick, then Carol helped her into the Jeep and strapped her in. “We’ll be home in no time, baby. Just lean back and close your eyes,” Carol said. She got in on her side, started the engine, then turned the Jeep toward home.

  “Did you call Daddy and tell him not to pick me up?” she asked in a weak voice.

  “Argh,” Carol said. She pulled her phone out and told it to call Bobby Kent’s number. She put in her earpiece headset with one hand while she drove with the other. She caught Bobby just as he was headed out the door. “We need to get you a cell phone,” she said after she told him about Lisa.

  “You’re right. I think I’ll go get one right now. Do you need me to get anything else while I’m out?”

  “I think I have some ginger ale at home. That’s all we’ll need for Lisa today. Stay away tonight, Bobby. I’m guessing your velvet voice could do without you catching this.”

  “I’m not worried about that. I’ll bring you dinner tonight, since you won’t be cooking for Lisa,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to buy you dinner yet.”

  “Thanks, Bobby. Not many men are as brave as you are to face a little girl with the stomach ‘flu.”

  She hung up the phone as Lisa said in a weak voice, “Mom.” Carol put her phone down and reached under her seat where she kept brown paper lunch bags. Carol had learned to be prepared from carpooling the dance classes.

  “Here baby, use this. We’ll be home in ten minutes,” she said, handing the bag back to Lisa. She watched Lisa in the rear view mirror and willed the trip home to go by just a little faster.

  “WHERE is she?” Bobby asked, walking in the door with some Chinese takeout containers.

  “In my room on the bed, watching a movie,” Carol said.

  She followed him into the kitchen, where he set the food on the table and handed her a small card. “That’s my cell number,” he said. She turned to get some plates out of the cupboard, but Bobby stopped her and pulled her close. “How was your day?” he asked, nibbling on her neck.

  Carol sighed and leaned her head back. “I did battle with a psychiatrist on the stand, received a mini-lecture from Mitch, and Lisa has thrown up on me twice,” she said.

  Bobby moved from her neck to her mouth, and gave her a long, exhilarating kiss. “So you basically had a normal day?” Carol laughed and pushed him away. “I’m going to go check on Lisa,” he said, leaving Carol to dish up plates.

  He found her nearly buried under a mound of blankets, very pale, lying still and staring at the television. “Hey, Munchkin. How ya feelin’?”

  Lisa turned her head to look at him. “I’m sick,” she said with a rough voice.

  “That’s what your mama told me,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I guess you got it from that little boy who went to Amy’s house.”

  Lisa shrugged. “Two kids threw up all over the floor right in the middle of our math lesson today. I made it to the bathroom,” she said.

  “I bet your teacher appreciated that, Sugar. You just lie here and rest. Call out if you need us,” he said.

  CAROL almost purred. That was how good it felt. She shifted the pillow under her head and stretched her arms up, thinking that she’d died and gone to heaven. Then he picked up the other foot and started rubbing that one. “I’ve never had my feet rubbed before,” she said in a dreamy voice. “You have just established a precedent for our future marriage.”

  Bobby laughed and looked at her. “Aw, shucks, ma’am. We’re just engaged at this point. Now’s the time I get to impress you.”

  “When does humble little-old me get a chance to impress world-renown international superstar Bobby Kent?” she asked.

  “Too late,” he said. “He’s already duly impressed.” He stared at her for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you relaxed. I like the way it softens your face.”

  She grinned, feeling a little flustered. “My face isn’t normally soft?”

  “Your face is often intense,” he corrected, pressing on her arch and eliciting a sigh from her. “You take the troubles of the world on those shoulders of yours.”

  When her phone rang, she tensed up. She sat up and reached over the back of the couch, lifting the receiver from the base. “Hello?” she said.

  “Hey Carol, this is Jen.”

  “Jen! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for a week. Is everything okay?” Carol asked. She moved her feet off Bobby’s lap and swung her legs around to sit upright.

  “I had to clean up a mess overseas. Just got back. I just received your package. What do you need?”

  Carol’s mind shifted to the case. “I need a profile. As detailed of one you can get me.”

  “That’s it? You could have gone to the Bureau for that,” Jen mused.

  “I did. They ripped a page out of the handbook and plagiarized it. I need a real profile. In-depth.”

  “Okay. It will take me a few days.”

  “I appreciate anything you can do. There’ve been two more murders since you got the package.”

  “I’ll need that information as well.”

  “You should have it by tomorrow at the latest. I sent it out earlier today.”

  “It will still take me a few days. I want to do it myself so I need to read everything, get into the mind-set, that sort of thing. But I’ll call you as soon as I have it.”

  “Can you e-mail it?”

  “Yes, but I’d rather send it via fax.”

  Carol would never understand spooks. “Okay. Let me give you my home fax number. You can fax it straight to me, and don’t worry about sending the hard copy anywhere.” Carol gave her the number, then bit her lip. “I saw Henry the other day. He told me about John.”

  “I saw John last night,” Jen said, then she surprised Carol by laughing. It was a sound so rarely heard from Jen. “He’s trying to wear me down.”

  Carol smiled. “There’s nothing wrong with being in love and getting married, Jen.”

  “Uh huh. Walk a mile in my shoes, then say that. I understand you also have some news.”

  Carol grinned. “I’m sitting right next to him.”

  Jen Thorne said, “Tell Bobby I said hello. I only met him once, but I’m sure he’ll remember it. It was kind of a bad day. Tell him I look forward to meeting him again under better circumstances. I assume I’m invited to the wedding?”

  “I’m afraid not, but you can come as a bridesmaid.”

  She heard Jen snort. “Can you imagine me in a bridesmaid dress?”

  “Actually, I can’t wait to see you in one.”

  After a long pause, Jen said, “Aria your Matron of Honor?” Jen had worked closely with Aria’s husband Nick for several years.

  “Haven’t asked her yet, but that’s the plan,” Carol confirmed.

  “I’m sure she’ll say yes. Be good to catch up with Nick again. And that gives John a good excuse to come, too. So, sure. I’ll be there for you. You going to get Melody Montgomery to sing?”

  “I guess it depends. She’s due soon. I’m sure he’d love it. Bobby and Melody apparently go way back.”

  There was a pause and Jen said, “Yes, Carol. I know that.”

  Carol blinked. “What does that mean?”

  “It was a bad time, Carol. For
Melody. Ask Bobby.”

  Carol heard a tone in Jennifer Thorne’s voice that she hadn’t heard in over a year. It was a tone of evasiveness and stoicism that meant someone had been seriously hurt or even killed. It said without saying it that the subject was off limits. A little over a year ago, Jen Thorne had been instrumental in turning Carol’s life upside down. She wondered if Bobby could tell a similar tale.

  Carol said, “Will do, Jen. I’ll wait on that profile. And thank you.”

  “Thanks for bringing it to me, Carol. Hope it helps me even up our score a little.” She hung up before Carol could say anything else.

  Carol lay back down and propped her feet back into Bobby’s lap. “So, Jen Thorne said to tell you hello and that she looks forward to meeting you under better circumstances next time.”

  She watched Bobby’s jaw clench. “She’s a good woman. I think I’d like to meet her when she isn’t shooting at someone.”

  Carol stared at him for a little longer, but he didn’t continue. “So you don’t want to talk about it?”

  Bobby shrugged. “It was all in the papers. I was at Melody Mason’s party when she was kidnapped.”

  Carol felt her eyes widen. She had read about it and heard some things from John Suarez when she had seen him months ago, but it never occurred to her that Bobby had also been present.

  “What else did Jen say?” Bobby prompted, trying to change the subject.

  “She’s going to be a bridesmaid for me,” she answered.

  He grinned. “That will be something to see. Will she have John with her?”

  “How do you know John Suarez?”

  He finally met her eyes. He looked amused. “Same way I know Jennifer Thorne.”

  “It’s fascinating that you know John and Jen. My best friend’s Aria, John’s baby sister. Henry’s, too, for that matter.”