by Linda Wisdom
“I may not be a good cook, but I can set a mean table.” He found placemats in another drawer and set everything up, including pouring juice. “How are you feeling this morning? Any tenderness or extra sensitivity in your skin?”
“No, but it does itch because of all the scabs that have formed.” She lightly touched her face. “I look as if I have a rare skin disease.”
“Naw, more like a good case of the chicken pox or measles. Think of it as a good reason to stay home for a few days and catch up on your reading.” He gave in to his first instinct and placed his hands on her shoulders, turned her around, and kissed her. The light good morning kiss soon lengthened to much more as Josh pulled Lauren closer against him. He wrapped one hand against the back of her head as he slipped his tongue between her parted lips.
“Wow,” he whispered, when he finally came up for air. His hands still cradled her face, his fingers tangled in her hair. “If that’s what happens when we share one of those easygoing good morning kisses, what’s going to happen when we finally pull out all the stops?” He winced when he saw the red streaks his morning beard had left on her face. He offered her a silent apology, not stopping to think how it must have felt, then remembered she hadn’t bothered to complain.
Lauren smiled as she retied her robe’s sash. She hadn’t even been aware Josh had loosened it during their kiss. No wonder he looked as awestruck by it as she felt. At the same time, she felt more relaxed than she had in the last few days. “If we’re lucky, someone will call out the fire department.” She turned back to the bowl of egg mixture and added vanilla powder and cinnamon before dipping in two slices of bread and dropping them in the frying pan. “I already put the syrup in the microwave. You want to zap it for about ninety seconds, please? I already cooked up some bacon and left it warming in the oven. Why don’t you get it out and put it on the table, too?” She dropped two more slices into the frying pan. “This will be ready in a couple of minutes.”
Josh took the time to drop a kiss on top of her head before complying with her request.
“Did you know you snore?” Lauren waited until Josh had taken his first bite before dropping her bomb.
He almost choked as he hurriedly swallowed his food. “No wonder I woke up alone.”
“You woke up alone because I decided it was a better idea to get up rather than wake you up.” She stirred her coffee, although she hadn’t added anything to it. “I still feel as if we’re moving too fast in the face of circumstances that aren’t present in most dating situations.” She carefully set her spoon down. “I also walked through the house and looked out the windows because I felt she was out there.”
“Damn, did you see anything?” He helped himself to a third and fourth slice of French toast. “Even a car you don’t think belonged around here?”
She shook her head. “You can barely see the street from the house. But I felt a stronger pull when I went into living room. I was careful to look between the folds in the drapes. Although one thing was strange. A neighbor two doors over usually has his floodlights on all night whether he’s home or not, and they weren’t on last night.”
“I’ll ask Kevin to have someone check it out.” Josh glanced at the clock. “I don’t like it, but I have to go. I didn’t think to bring any clothes for court, and I have to get home and change first.”
“I’m sure if I looked through a couple of boxes I might be able to find one of Ron’s old ties,” she teased.
He got up and walked around the table to kiss her. “Bite your tongue. Better yet, let me bite it for you.” He settled for a gentle nibble. “There will be someone around here all the time. I won’t be available, but you can leave a message on my cell or with Ginnie. I check in with her during recess and lunch.”
“Josh, you’re starting to sound like a mother hen.” She turned him around and gave him a slight push. “Please, don’t do this.”
“Sorry, for a guy who prides himself on his objective stance and ability to keep a discreet distance, I’m doing a pretty lousy job.” He rubbed his jaw. “Okay, I promise to do better. I’d better get my stuff together.”
Even then, Josh didn’t hurry as he walked out the door, after giving Lauren a light kiss. He was afraid to further abrade her skin.
“I’ll call you later.”
“Just go. I’ll be fine. I intend to finish writing an article that’s due next week and maybe even watch a few soap operas. There was one particular one I watched a few years ago when I had to stay home. I’m sure I can catch up on the plot in no time. Go, before you show up late for court. Why give the judge any more ammunition than your lack of a tie?”
…
Lauren deliberately stayed in the kitchen after Josh left. She found the familiar tasks of washing dishes and putting them away calmed her fears that someone was still out there watching her. Except every time she reminded herself that the person she’d spy out there was a good guy, a police officer Kevin had sent to guard her, she had trouble feeling better. In an act of desperation, she even switched on her iPod and selected her favorite playlist. The loud music wasn’t sufficient, but she found it better than the charged silence she felt suffocating the house.
…
“I don’t care if the patrol car didn’t see anything. Lauren felt it, and I have to trust her judgment on this,” Josh spoke into his car phone to Kevin while racing through early morning traffic and keeping an eye on the rearview mirror for any black-and-white that might not like his excessive speed. A prosecuting attorney stopped for speeding wasn’t exactly good news.
“Hey, I believe in the doc’s hunches, same as you, Josh, but there weren’t any cars that didn’t belong out there, and no one saw anything out of the ordinary last night,” the detective argued.
“Not even a house that is normally illuminated by floodlights and wasn’t last night? Tell me that isn’t a little strange, Kevin.”
“I’ll get someone to check it out this morning. Josh,” his tone warned that a lecture was coming. “You’re getting too emotionally involved in this. I know you’re seeing the doc as more than another victim. If this crazy broad after you is associated with the courthouse, she’ll somehow find out you spent the night there last night. That doesn’t look too good for either of you. Especially after you went rushing over to the hospital the minute you heard about what happened to her.”
Josh turned onto his street and made a quick turn up his driveway. “Lauren could have been severely injured because of me, Kevin. Even if we weren’t involved, I would have gone over there to make sure she was all right.”
“You know what I’m hearing, Josh? I’m hearing you say that the two of you are involved now. Shit, Brandon, haven’t you learned to keep those pants zipped?”
“So help me, Kevin, if you try to make Lauren sound like an easy lay one more time, I’m going to break every bone in your body. I’m furious with this whole situation, and I want to see it settled fast. I’ve got to go.” He cut off Kevin’s sputters and raced out of the car and into the house with the intent to shower and dress at record speed.
Josh didn’t look right or left as he entered the bathroom and switched on the shower. He made record time showering and only nicked himself a couple of times when he shaved.
It wasn’t until he returned to his bedroom that the musky fragrance hit him. With the drapes drawn shut, the room was so dark he could barely see. He crossed the room and jerked the cord so savagely it almost broke in his grip.
The early morning light spilled across his bed first. The artfully planned display before his eyes was even more gruesome because of its intent. Josh had been present at grisly crime scenes before, but nothing had ever turned his stomach as much as the insane spectacle before him.
He didn’t waste any time in calling Kevin again.
“If you’re calling to tell me you’ve been acting like a shit for your attitude, don’t bother. I already know you’re one,” the detective said, the minute he got on the line.
&n
bsp; “Get over here fast,” Josh said without preamble, keeping his back to the bed. He wasn’t sure he could look at it again without getting violently ill. “I have to leave now or I’ll be late for court.”
“Our crazy lady?”
“In spades.”
“What did she leave this time?”
“Kevin, it’s enough to turn your stomach. You’ll find it in the bedroom. Just let me know what you find.”
After he hung up, Josh forced himself to turn around and stare at the macabre display set up on the bed.
Lauren’s missing skeleton had been found. The line of bones sported spaghetti straps of a turquoise silk nightgown draped over its shoulders reclined under the covers with the sheet top neatly folded down over the comforter, the blindly staring skull placed in the middle of the pillow. One bony hand rested upward, the fingers curved, as if gesturing for someone to come forward. The final blow was a honey-blond wig almost identical to the color of Lauren’s own hair placed on top of the skull and carefully arranged in a style similar to hers.
Chapter Thirteen
I can sense her presence. I feel she’s nearby, watching me. She’s probably sitting out there, planning her next move. What will she do next? Pull out a gun and get it over with, once and for all? Put us both out of our misery?
Josh’s surroundings receded until he was positive he and the unknown watcher were the only ones in the universe. He forced himself to sit back in the chair, silently tapping his pen against the table’s edge, trying to look as if he was listening intently to the defense attorney’s opening statement.
He wished he could turn around and see if there was a woman sitting in the back of the courtroom who just might have that insane look in her eye. The trouble was, he wondered if she really was in the courtroom watching him and he was picking up her unstable vibrations, or if he had finally lost his own sanity and was turning paranoid in the bargain. He could see it now. He’d be sitting in court, awaiting the judge’s verdict whether he should be committed to the local funny farm or not. He just knew the judges would toss a coin to see who would get the pleasure of putting him away.
“Mr. Brandon, are you with us this morning, or did you merely project your physical self here to make an appearance until your brain was ready to be awakened?”
His head snapped up. “I’ve been right here all along, Your Honor. Body and brain.” He winced as the courtroom audience chuckled and the judge’s expression indicated she didn’t find him amusing.
Sylvia Greene, a no-nonsense lady with fifteen years on the bench, gave him what many called her stern schoolteacher’s look. “I’m sure we’d find out differently if I were to ask you what Ms. Taylor just said,” she said, which only furthered her resemblance to a teacher. “However, I’ll only ask that you look a little more alert this morning. It would make me feel so much more secure to know you’re hanging on to Ms. Taylor’s every word, just as we all are.”
Josh shifted in his chair. “Anything to ease your mind, Your Honor.”
Her benign smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared. “Good.”
Josh leaned over to whisper to the junior attorney assisting him. “Do me a favor and when you get a chance, scan the room and see if there’s anyone looking out of place.”
The young man looked confused. “Out of place how?”
“As in foaming at the mouth, purple face, crazy-looking eyes, I don’t know what. I just want to know if there’s a woman sitting back there staring holes into my back,” he snapped.
He nodded and after a moment, casually turned around. He turned back and scribbled on the pad in front of him.
All I see are the usual courtroom groupies and employees. No foaming, no colorful faces. It’s always been hard for me to tell the crazies from the normal ones.
Josh scanned the lines and nodded as if the man had written a profound statement. Except he didn’t feel reassured, because he was positive he could smell the scent of Obsession. But since more than half the occupants of the room were women, it was a better than even chance that one or more of them was wearing the rich fragrance. Hell, for all he knew, the judge might even wear it.
“So, if Mr. Brandon gives us his approval, we will recess for lunch until two.”
“Damn,” he murmured under his breath. “I’ve got to get my mind back on track or I’ll ending up losing this case big time.”
“That’s only if you’re lucky,” his co-counsel muttered, hurrying out of the courtroom as if fearing he would be tarred with the same brush.
Josh pushed his papers into his briefcase, equally eager to get out.
“I’m so glad ‘the professor’ is after you and not me this time, Josh,” defense attorney Carole Taylor sang under her breath as she passed him. “Keep it up. Then I’ll have no problem winning this case.”
“Up yours, Taylor.” He was hot on her heels when he saw Kevin standing near the doorway.
“You’re so concise, Brandon. I do wish I had your way with words,” she retorted, before disappearing down the hallway.
By now, Josh was past noticing anything but the grim features etched on Kevin’s face as the detective stood by the open doorway. He hadn’t been gone from Lauren’s house all that long. Had the woman waited until he’d left and gone in? Had she made sure Lauren couldn’t recover from her next attack? Fear sent boiling nausea crawling up his throat.
“What happened? Is Lauren all right?”
Kevin gestured for Josh to sit down. He waited until he sank into a chair before giving his report.
“Your skinny bed partner was positively identified as Norman, the doc’s missing skeleton. She also identified the nightgown as one of hers. She checked her drawer and found it missing. We’re not sure where the wig was bought, but we’re checking it out. There aren’t that many local places that sell them, so we should run into a piece of luck there unless it was bought online. The doc had a surprise visitor sometime after you left. The officer who went to her door to let her know he was there so she wouldn’t get spooked if she saw someone on the property found a bunch of tansy on the doorstep.”
“Tansy? What the hell is that? It sounds like something a witch would use to cast a spell.” That’s all he needed. A witch behind all this.
Kevin scanned his notes. “Yeah, it does, doesn’t it? It seems it’s some kind of weedy plant. I guess it’s like an herb. According to a flower language expert I called, it means ‘I declare war on you’. I’d say she’s letting the doc know that what’s happened before is nothing compared to what’s gonna happen.”
“Joshua.”
The voice that usually sounded like pure sex was strident and harsh as it echoed in the hallway. The woman walking toward them captured every man’s eye. Whether it had to do with the heavy mane of silvery blond curls or the bright blue eyes or the voluptuous figure encased in a cobalt-blue dress or the three-inch stilettos that gave her walk that extra wiggle or all of the above, she was definitely a woman created for man.
“Shit,” Josh muttered.
“Heather,” Kevin clarified.
The woman walked up to Josh. “I told you I don’t like people hanging up on me.” Her eyes, usually limpid, shot with killing sparks. “Don’t do it again or you will be very sorry.” She stared at him for a long moment, then turned and walked away.
“Did you check her out?” Josh watched her exit, as did all the men around them.
“She likes to collect odd plants and she was away from home the nights and days in question,” Kevin replied. “You didn’t tell me she was a financial consultant. Hell, packed in that X-rated body is a computer mind.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “Now, that is a woman who could raise a dead man.” He gave a “what can I say” look when Josh glared at him. “Hey, I may be married, but I can still look, can’t I? Don’t worry, we’re still doing a little more checking. Especially since there was a story that she took a class in poisonous plants.”
Josh shook his head. “No wonder I’m going crazy.”
Unable to sit still, he jumped to his feet and spun around. He looked as if he was ready to put his fist through a wall.
“Do you have someone with Lauren right now?”
“Yes, and believe me, where she is right now she couldn’t be safer.”
…
Left hand wrapped over right, shoulders squared, legs slightly spread apart, think of it as doing nothing more dangerous than pointing your finger. Squeeze, don’t jerk. And if you’re lucky, you’ll hit what you’re aiming at.
Lauren was prepared for the recoil, but the bucking action still shook her body. At the moment, she was past caring about technique. She eyed the target, wished she could put a face on it, and kept squeezing the trigger until it clicked empty. She took off the ear protectors and left them hanging around the back of her neck as she pushed the button to bring the human outline target back to her.
“Not bad,” Gail commented from behind. The policewoman had called that morning and Lauren was grateful to have her come over instead of having a stranger in her house.
Desperate to get out of the house, Lauren suggested they go by the shooting range so she could get some practice in, then stop somewhere for a late lunch.
Lauren wasn’t as pleased with the results. “Not enough through the heart.”
Gail unclipped the target so she could have a better look. She handed it to Lauren. “I’d sure hate to have you mad at me. You’re too good with that thing.”
“My ex had his faults, but he did make sure I knew how to use a gun and took me down to the shooting range on a regular basis. He said if I was going to pull out the gun, I was to make sure I didn’t miss. Right now it’s easy because I imagine I’m shooting at the idiot who took Norman.”
“Naming your skeleton after Norman Bates is a pretty sick thing to do, Lauren.”
“Not really. I know one pathologist who named his Freddie Krueger. Norman is very special to me, and now, because of this ridiculous case, he’s evidence, and they don’t know when I can have him back.” She looked mad enough to pulverize the target with her bare hands. “I’m sure they’re treating him like a joke in that property room. I just know it. They’ll mishandle him and he’ll end up in pieces. Not to mention what’s probably happening to my nightgown down there.” She rolled her eyes.