She was afraid that the minute he walked into the back door of the restaurant to take her home she’d jump into his arms, wrap them around his neck and spill the beans. Now that she’d truly embraced her love for him, she couldn’t wait to share it with him.
It was just after five and she was smiling as she had been for most of the afternoon as she and Josie cleaned up the kitchen. Minutes earlier she’d sent Gus and Greg home. The afternoon had been slow, probably because of the dreary weather, and there was no point in them hanging around since they’d already cleaned the dining rooms.
“I’m going to run upstairs before Steve gets here and grab a stack of to-go containers. I see we’re running low down here,” Roxy said.
“Want me to go?” Josie asked as she put the last of the barbecue chicken in a container for Roxy to take with her to Steve’s.
“No, I’ll take care of it. While I’m up there I might grab a few more items of clothing to take to Steve’s. I’ll be right back down.”
Josie nodded. “And I’ll be right here until Steve arrives.”
Roxy bounded up the stairs, energized despite the long day by the events of the night to come. Maybe she’d grab her pretty pink floral blouse and black slacks to change into before dinner. It didn’t seem right to profess your love for somebody wearing a chicken-stained T-shirt and jeans.
She raced up to the third floor, grabbed the slacks and blouse in question and quickly added a pair of pink-and-black earrings, then stuffed the items in a small overnight bag.
She carried the bag down to the second level and set it on the floor outside the storage room. The room was dark, with only a single window that emitted the semilight of the darkened day. She flipped the light switch on the wall and muttered a curse when nothing happened.
When was the last time she’d changed the lightbulb in here? She couldn’t remember. At least she knew where the foam containers were. Unfortunately they were on a shelf on the back wall, requiring her to maneuver around tables and chairs and a variety of bins and storage boxes.
Although slightly disoriented by the darkness of the room, she headed in the direction of the back wall. The door slammed shut behind her, and with a gasp she realized she wasn’t alone.
Instantly she ducked down behind an overturned table. “Josie?” she said softly.
“No, but if you want to yell for her I’ll be glad to kill her, too.”
Roxy froze at the sound of the feminine voice, a voice she was certain she’d never heard before in her life. She curled up to make herself as small as possible as she heard the sound of footsteps across the floor.
At least she had the near-complete darkness of the room on her side, she thought as she tried to figure out who was in the room with her and what item might be close by that could be used as a weapon.
The footsteps halted, and the only sound was the frantic beat of Roxy’s heart. Her instinct was to scream her head off, but there had been a harsh tone to the woman’s voice that made Roxy believe she wouldn’t think twice about hurting Josie.
She bit her lip, refusing to release the scream that would bring Josie running potentially to her own death.
The next sound she heard was a click, and then a tiny beam of light danced around the room. As Roxy realized the woman had a flashlight, her terror shook through her.
“You can’t have him,” the woman said softly, her footsteps audible as the beam shot from one area of the room to another in her search for Roxy. “He’s mine. He’s always been mine. I made a mistake by leaving, but now I’ve come back for him and you’re in my way. I have his son, and we’re all going to be a family.”
The beam of light landed on Roxy, and she scrambled away at the same time she heard the thwack of a knife hitting the table where she’d been hiding.
Stacy. It was Stacy. Roxy tried to wrap her head around what was happening. Neither she nor Steve had ever considered that his ex might return and have a reason to hurt Roxy.
It was Stacy, and she obviously wanted Roxy dead.
As the ray of light struck her again, Roxy raced ahead, crashing into boxes and finally halting behind one of them. Deep sobs welled up inside her, but she slapped a hand over her mouth to hold them in, knowing that this was a deadly game of hide-and-seek.
She suddenly remembered her cell phone in her pocket. She knew that the moment she opened it, the screen would be backlit and would indicate her location. She only hoped she’d have enough time to punch in Steve’s number before Stacy saw the light and attacked.
Drawing a deep breath and trying to control the violent tremble of her hands, Roxy pulled out the cell phone, slid it open and punched in Steve’s number. She didn’t wait for a response, but instead scrabbled away from the phone.
She pulled herself into a ball behind a storage bin and heard the strong footsteps that strode across the floor. There was a loud stomp and a splintering noise, and the light from the phone instantly blinked out.
Roxy had no idea if the call had gone through or not. She had no idea if there was any help on the way. She refused to scream for Josie, even though she knew that there were only so many places in the room where she could hide.
Eventually this game of hide-and-seek would end, and Roxy knew with every fiber of her being that she was locked in this room with a woman who intended to kill her, who wouldn’t stop until she was dead.
Chapter 17
“That’s odd,” Steve said as he got up from his desk and stared at his phone.
Frank stepped up next to him. “What’s odd?”
“I just got a call from Roxy’s number, but she didn’t talk to me and then the line went dead.”
“A dropped call?”
“Maybe...maybe not.” Steve looked up at Frank, an edge of anxiety creeping through his veins. He quickly punched in Roxy’s number, but it went straight to voice mail.
“I think maybe something’s going on.” Steve headed for the door, the thrum of anxiety growing stronger.
“Want company?” Frank asked.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”
Steve got in his car and Frank got in his own, and together they pulled away from the station. Had Roxy sent everyone home because business was slow? Was she alone in the place, and had danger once again crept inside the doors?
His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he roared down the street to the Dollhouse. When he pulled up in back he was relieved to see Josie’s car still parked beside Roxy’s. So Roxy wasn’t there all alone.
Frank pulled in next to him. “Maybe I overreacted,” Steve said as the two of them got out of their cars. “Josie is still here, so Roxy must be okay.” Unless Josie was the danger, a little voice niggled in Steve’s head.
Frank didn’t look relieved. “But it looks like it’s just Josie and Roxy. It looks like all the men have gone for the day.”
The anxiety jumped back into Steve’s veins. If Josie wasn’t the perp, she was a lightweight like Roxy. It would be relatively easy for somebody to overtake the two of them, especially if that somebody had a weapon.
Steve drew his gun, as did Frank as they approached the back door. Steve would certainly rather be safe than sorry. As he opened the door and rounded the corner in the kitchen, Josie squealed in surprise and threw her hands up in the air.
“Don’t shoot me!”
Steve expelled a sigh of relief and lowered his gun. “So you’re all okay?”
“I’m okay. Roxy went upstairs to get some containers.” She frowned. “But it’s taking her a long time.”
Once again that screaming anxiety leaped into Steve’s brain and into his heart. He motioned for Frank to follow him, and they climbed the stairs silently. Steve turned on the light against the looming darkness that encompassed the second floor and the narrow, dark stairway.
&n
bsp; The door to the storage room was closed, and Steve heard the sound of movement behind it. There was a scuffle, a dull thud and a stifled squeal.
Steve threw open the door, and the illumination from the hall light shone in. He froze at the sight of Roxy on the floor on her back and Stacy straddling her, a large dagger held in both hands over her head.
Stacy? Where had she come from...and what was she doing to Roxy?
As if in slow motion, Steve saw the knife in Stacy’s hands begin a descent. Roxy screamed. A gunshot deafened him as he tried to make sense of everything.
The scent of cordite filled the air as Stacy’s blouse blossomed with red. The knife slipped from her hands, and she fell to the floor next to Roxy. Roxy’s deep sob broke Steve’s inertia, and he ran to her side as she got up on all fours.
“Are you okay?” He crouched down next to her. “Roxy, did she hurt you?”
Roxy shook her head and struggled to her feet, and Frank drew her close to him. Steve stared over at Stacy, a new horror filling his head.
No...no! his brain screamed.
He ran to where she lay on her back. She was still alive, although he didn’t know how. “Stacy...Stacy, where’s Tommy?” Steve’s heart beat so frantically he felt as if he were on the verge of a heart attack or a mental breakdown.
Stacy smiled up at him. “If I can’t have you, then you can’t have him.” Her voice was barely audible in the utter stillness of the room.
“Stacy, for God’s sake, just tell me where he is,” Steve begged, his vision blurring with tears.
She coughed and gurgled as a trickle of blood escaped from the side of her mouth. “You’ll never know.” They were her last words. She turned her head slightly and died.
Steve stared at her. No. It couldn’t end like this. It couldn’t. He grabbed Stacy by the shoulders and shook her. “Tell me—tell me where he is.”
He was wild with grief, aware someplace in the back of his mind that his last hope to find his son was with a dead woman. No...no...no. The word thundered over and over again in his brain. This couldn’t have happened.
“Steve.” Frank placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “She’s gone. Leave her be.”
Steve stared up at his partner, tears streaming down his face. “I’m sorry,” Frank said, his voice breaking slightly. “I’m sorry that I had to shoot her, but she was going to kill Roxy.”
Like a robot, Steve turned his head to see Roxy standing in the doorway, embraced by Josie, who had obviously run upstairs during the drama.
“Yeah, you did the right thing,” Steve heard himself say as he got to his feet and swiped his face, numbed by what had just occurred.
“I’ve already called for backup,” Frank said. “Go home, Steve. Get out of here. I’ll handle the details.”
He saw the guilt and grief that deepened the lines on Frank’s face and knew Frank felt bad for pulling the trigger that ended all Steve’s hopes, his dreams of ever seeing his son again.
Although logically Steve knew Frank had had no other choice, right now he didn’t have the words to assuage Frank’s guilt. Steve was utterly destroyed.
“She wanted to be with you. She thought I was in the way,” Roxy said, her voice trembling from the residual terror she had to have felt. “She’s the one who threw the knives at me and locked me in the freezer. She wanted me dead so you could all be a family.” Roxy turned her head into Josie’s shoulder and began to weep.
Steve walked over to her and pulled her from Josie and into his embrace. But he felt nothing. He patted her on the back as she cried into the front of his shirt. “It’s going to be fine,” he said by rote. “Everything is going to be fine now.”
At that moment the thunder of footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Steve knew the backup had arrived. He released Roxy, still feeling as if he were in a haze, trapped in a terrible bad dream and couldn’t wake up.
“I’m going to head home,” he said to nobody, to anybody. “I’ll be there if you need me.”
He met several other officers, including Jimmy, coming up the stairs, but nobody spoke to him and for that he was grateful.
Alone. He just wanted to be alone to process what had happened, to grieve what now would probably never happen. Still in a numbed fog, he got into his car and drove to his house. As he drove he found himself playing and replaying the last seconds of Stacy’s life.
In those last moments, why hadn’t she just told him what he needed to know, given him what he wanted so much? She’d taken joy in denying him.
He’d always known she was selfish and crazy; he just hadn’t realized the utter depths of her madness. He pulled into his driveway and dropped his head to the steering wheel, despair making him too weak to move.
The only hope that remained was that on her body they’d find something that would indicate where she’d been staying, but it was a hope barely realized as he knew Stacy was probably smarter than that.
Like an ancient man, he finally got out of his car and went into the house, where for the past week laughter and joy had lived with Roxy’s presence. Now the silence screamed at him as he climbed the stairs.
There was no doubt where he was going. He needed to be as close to his son as possible. He stumbled down the hallway to the bedroom at the end.
He opened the door and headed straight to the bed, where he collapsed and pulled the stuffed horse tight against his chest—and only then did he weep for the child he feared he would never see again.
* * *
The night was endless for Roxy. Somebody screwed in the lightbulb that Stacy had apparently unscrewed in the ceiling of the storage room, and men tramped in and out, taking pictures, collecting evidence and doing their jobs.
She was questioned by first one person and then another. Josie was also interviewed for a long time. Somehow word had gotten to Marlene and Sheri, who both showed up, their faces fraught with worry as they provided emotional support for Roxy.
Stacy’s body was finally removed, and Roxy was allowed to go upstairs to her own quarters with her sisters while the police finished up their work.
Despite the horror of what she’d been through, despite how close death had come, all Roxy could think about was Steve. Tonight was to have been the night she confessed her love for him, and instead he’d been dealt a kick to his heart that she feared he would never survive.
She knew the implications of Stacy’s death, the agonizing secret she’d taken with her, and she’d seen the hope die in Steve’s eyes, his soul shut down in agony.
She sat at her kitchen table while Marlene made coffee and Sheri rummaged in the refrigerator for sandwich makings. “It’s almost midnight. You have to eat something,” she said as Roxy sat numb and slightly disconnected from everything that was happening around her.
She knew there would never be a happily-ever-after with Steve. She would always represent to him the reason he didn’t get his son back, the reason Frank had pulled the trigger to kill the only woman who had answers for him. The whereabouts of Tommy had been sacrificed to save her life. How could he ever forgive her for that?
This night had not only destroyed Steve. The collateral damage had been Roxy’s hope for a future with him and the dark shadows of guilt from killing that filled Frank’s eyes.
“Here you go,” Sheri said as she placed a paper plate with a ham-and-cheese sandwich in front of Roxy. Marlene poured them all coffee, and then the two of them joined Roxy at the table.
“Eat,” Sheri commanded.
“You two should be home where you belong, not here taking care of me,” Roxy protested.
“And why wouldn’t we be here taking care of you?” Marlene asked. “You’ve been through a traumatic night. Whether you believe it or not, you need us, Roxy.”
To Roxy’s horror, tears filled her eyes. “I always wanted t
o be the strong one for the two of you. I wanted to be the one to take care of you.”
“And you have,” Marlene assured her. She covered one of Roxy’s hands with hers. “You’ve been the best big sister we could ever have. You are so strong, but so are we, Roxy, and it’s okay if once in a while you need to lean on us.”
“Roxy, you’ve done your job. You and Aunt Liz taught us how to be strong, independent women,” Sheri said.
Her words were followed by the silence of loss, by the knowledge that each of them shared that nobody was even close to figuring out what had happened to Liz.
“I’m spending at least tonight with you,” Marlene said and gazed at Roxy with her ice princess look that brooked no argument. “I’ll be here to do the baking in the morning.”
Roxy sighed. “I don’t think I plan to open tomorrow. I already told Josie to take the day off and to contact any other help to tell them the same thing.” She picked up half of the sandwich and took a bite.
“Maybe it’s a good thing not to open. You could come out to my place and spend the day with me,” Sheri said. “There’s nothing better than fresh air and taking care of little creatures to set your mind straight.”
Roxy smiled at her youngest sister. In many ways Sheri was so uncomplicated. “Maybe I’ll do that,” she agreed. “In fact, maybe I’ll head to your place with you for the rest of the night.” She smiled apologetically at Marlene. “Not to offend you, but to be honest, I don’t think I want to be here tonight.”
“No offense taken,” Marlene replied easily. “I just want you to know that we’re both here for you, for whatever you need.”
A knock fell on the door, and Marlene jumped up to answer it. It was Frank. He stepped inside, his eyes still haunted with grief and guilt. Roxy got up from the table to greet him.
“Frank,” she said softly and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“I didn’t know what else to do. I had a split second to make a decision.” His eyes darkened. “I just wish things had turned out differently for Steve.”
Cold Case, Hot Accomplice Page 21