Conviction of the Heart

by Alana Lorens

  “All right.” Suzanne included all of them in her relieved expression. “So we’ll leave that to the experts.”

  “Mom, when’s dinner?” Riviera asked.

  “Oh, any time, I guess. The rice should be long done by now.” She turned toward the kitchen, then turned back, looking fetchingly over her shoulder. “Nick, you'll stay?”

  When he hesitated, the girls started in on him. “Come on, Nick, please! You haven't been over for so long! We missed you!” They each grabbed a hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

  “I guess I'll stay,” he said wryly.

  While the girls set the table, Nick couldn’t help but notice how often Suzanne’s gaze stole up to the window, suspiciously probing the shadows. He didn’t have to worry about her being sufficiently aware of the danger. She’d dealt with enough lunatics to know what they were capable of. The real question was how well did she know Greg Morgan?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dinner was a remarkably cheerful and bubbly occasion, despite the afternoon’s events. Each of them seemed determined to put their worries aside. The girls scarcely stopped talking, filling Nick in on all the new twists and turns of their lives. Hope roundly reminded the detective that her beloved Steelers were headed for the playoffs, and Riviera rambled on about her role in the community theatre show. Suzanne was grateful she didn’t have to say much. Her mind was occupied in solving the mysteries.

  Could they absolutely blame Morgan for the letter?

  The author could be a dozen people she could think of. Any of the mothers or fathers in one of her cases could be upset enough to lash out at her. But something about the malice in the words, even the tortured penmanship, told her it was Morgan.

  She moved, almost robot-like, to clear the table after dinner, suggesting ice cream for dessert. Nick helped Riviera select bowls and set out nuts and syrup toppings. Suzanne passed, hovering by the stove awaiting the whistle of the teakettle while the others laughed and teased, scooping rocky road ice cream. Nick’s frequent stolen looks, though, told her he knew what preoccupied her. No doubt his mind was on the same thing.

  After the girls went upstairs, as unhappy as she’d predicted at the computer prohibition, she and Nick took their steaming cups of tea to her office. She closed the door. “So?” she asked, sitting on one end of the loveseat.

  He eyed the small sofa, then pulled a chair over close to it. “What are we going to do about Morgan? Why the hell didn’t you get a restraining order against him after what happened to Riviera?”

  “When the police wouldn’t follow through, I didn’t see the point. It would just have given him the chance to grandstand, because I didn’t have concrete evidence.” She eyed him. “That’s what your expert’s going to get us, right?”

  Nick nodded. “He’d better. Where are you on Maddie’s case? Did you finally win the restraining order?”

  “That’s the odd thing. He gave in. He caved. I thought we were past the worst of it.” She held the cup close to her mouth, taking a moment to let the cinnamon scent clear her mind. “He did make a threat after the hearing.”

  “I hope you called him on it. Maddie has the right to—”

  “Not to Maddie. To me.”

  His face hardened into rock. “You didn’t think it was important enough to mention? Or that I might care?”

  She reached out to pat his knee. “I thought he was bluffing. Like I said, I thought he’d moved on. I’m not going to make excuses. You know what they say about hindsight.”

  He sighed. “I know, love. I want to help. That’s all.” He fidgeted in silence for a moment. “What did he say?”

  “He said he’d get me, and mine, for what I was doing.” She couldn’t help a flashback to that courtroom, how close he was to her, how threatened she’d actually felt. The heat of his hatred. She’d been so sure he was just spouting off, that someone in his public position wouldn’t dare lash out the way he had. “Guess he meant it after all.”

  “See, that fits in with a theory of mine,” Nick said, pulling her back to the present. “I think it’s more than a coincidence that I’ve been accused and suspended right after Morgan became aware that we were together.”

  Suzanne blinked. What? We’re together?”

  “I—well. Yeah. I mean, aren’t we?” He suddenly looked very vulnerable.

  Were they? They’d been off and on, asserting their independence at times and then coming together for warm comfort. She’d at least considered the possibility of long term. And she’d called him on purpose, to reinforce that connection. “I guess…I guess neither one of us has actually said it.” A little nervous laugh escaped her.

  “Okay. Now I have.” He reached out to pat her knee possessively.

  So now they were together and he was her…boyfriend? “Boyfriend” did seem like such a stupid term for a grown man. So what then? Going steady? Another ridiculous term.

  “Yeah, okay.” The smile still on her face, she returned to the rest of what he’d said. “You were suspended after Morgan knew we were t—together.” She hated that she stumbled over the word. She cleared her throat and went on. “So you think the allegations have something to do with Morgan? And me?”

  “Once Reickert made that appeal to me, to stay away from you, I knew something was seriously wrong in the department. Morgan holds too much sway there. He’s got quite the political influence, and not all of it above the table.” He leaned back in the hard wooden chair and took a drink from his cup.

  “But I’d figured what’s happened to you trickled from Washington and the others.”

  “That could be. Back to Morgan and Maddie. What’s next? What’s he stand to lose here?”

  “The lawyers are negotiating the property division. Slowly. Very slowly.”

  “So Morgan is under the gun.”

  “Yes.” She sipped her tea, her mind ticking along in the background of their conversation. Would Morgan cave on the property as he had on the protection order? Now that he had stolen his son from Maddie? Maybe that would be enough for him. But she had to be fair. “We have to keep the possibility open that this particular threat isn’t him. People do crazy things when they’re going through a divorce. You learn to ignore them after awhile.”

  “My gut says that this is just escalating menace, designed to throw you off. Get you off Maddie’s case. Based on that, I’d say Morgan isn’t the kind of guy who likes to be ignored.”

  That theory made the most sense. No one had been so persistently aggressive before she’d taken this case. They knew for sure the Morgans were involved in the one incident. The likely choice was that he was involved in all of them. “So what do we do now?”

  “We’ll see what CSI finds on the letter. We’ll go over these computers with the tech equivalent of a microscope. We’ll find out exactly what Morgan’s up to.”

  She felt better knowing he had a plan. “I appreciate you offering to take the girls to school. That’s one thing off my mind.”

  “Happy to do it.” He shifted over to the love seat next to her. She snuggled into the curve of his arm. “Wish you’d let me protect you, too.”

  “And give up this exciting, dangerous life? Never.” She smiled to let him know she was teasing. “I didn’t mean to keep this from you, not in a mean way. I actually thought I was helping. You’ve got enough to—”

  “Hush,” he said, putting a finger to her lips. “I’m the one who saw that Maddie needed help and sent her to you. I’m in this with you.”

  They sighed almost simultaneously, and Suzanne hoped he was comforted by her as much as she was by him after their long separation. “I’ll be more careful, Nick.”

  “That’s all I can ask.”

  She leaned against him, thinking. “You know, if we can nail him with either of these things, his case will be shot to hell. Even his own attorneys won’t be able to take him seriously after this. I wouldn’t be surprised if the divorce just moved ahead quietly to its natural conclusion.”

&
nbsp; “I hope you’re right, babe.”

  Babe. That was a new one. She’d have to work a bit to get used to that. She’d also have to get used to her own lies. She had no reason at all to believe that Morgan was finished. Even an animal would fight like hell to protect its territory when wounded and desperate. Maddie had wounded her husband by escaping his control. Desperation was only a deposition away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Suzanne tried to get back into the swing at work, and still keep her days short enough to spend more time at home. After all that had happened, she hated leaving the girls home alone. When she asked him to, Nick would stay till she got home, and occasionally even had dinner ready when she arrived—a treat she hadn’t expected. They became almost domestic. What surprised her the most was how much she liked it.

  If balancing her concern for Nick and for her children’s safety wasn’t difficult enough, Maddie Morgan appeared at the office the following week. Her black eye showed Greg hadn’t changed his modus operandi.

  Suzanne stared for a moment, then drew the slender woman into her office. “How did this happen? You have a protection order. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near you!”

  Pathetic in a worn cotton jumper and blouse, Maddie wouldn’t look at her. She slumped on the love seat as if even her spine was ashamed. “I know I shouldn’t have listened to him, but he was just being so nice, and he sent flowers, with a card that said he was sorry. When he came last night to drop the kids off, I said he could stay for dinner. That was all. But then he wouldn’t leave.”

  “When did that happen?” Suzanne asked, pointing to Maddie’s mottled face.

  “After the children went to bed, he wanted to make love.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I kind of wanted to—I’ve been real lonely, Suzanne, I couldn’t help it! But he started to scare me, so I asked him to leave.”

  “He wouldn’t?” Suzanne sat at her desk to make notes, since she’d have to file a petition asking that Greg be held in contempt of the court’s order.

  Maddie shook her head. “He started getting angry when I wouldn’t sleep with him, and asked if I didn’t want to make love because my boyfriend was coming over later. I told him there was no one else, but he escalated right out of control.”

  “Did you call the police to report he’d violated the restraining order?”

  “I tried to. But he tore the cord out of the wall and threw the phone at me.” She grimaced. “That’s when this happened.”

  “All right. I can file contempt charges, since he broke the order. The court can punish him with jail time—”

  “I can’t do that! Joshua already hates me. If I put his father in jail, I’ll lose him for good. Isn’t there something else we can do?”

  Suzanne considered jail might be a real good place for both Joshua and his father. She hadn’t told Maddie about what happened between her son and Suzanne’s daughter. She’d thought Greg might tell her, since they had to appear before the magistrate to deal with the charges, but Maddie hadn’t said a word. Suzanne guessed Greg had taken care of it all in secret, in the dark, the way so many of his deals were made. “You know, I didn’t tell you what Joshua has been up to. I knew you were upset that he moved back with Greg. But maybe this is something you should hear.”

  Suzanne told Maddie about the night Riviera came home with the awful bruises, and Maddie’s face slowly drained of color.

  “Oh, my sweet Jesus,” she whispered. “Oh, Suzanne, I never knew…I never thought Greg would stoop so low. My Joss, doing something like that?” Her eyes teared up.

  “That’s what happens when the sons identify with the abuser. They go out of their way to try to be just like him. Even if they’ve suffered from the abuse.”

  “I’ve got to get him out of there.”

  “I’m not sure he’ll come. Right now, we’d be better off to focus on some of these other issues. Like keeping you safe.” Sizing up the woman before her, she wondered how long Maddie could hold out before she invited Greg back in permanently. It was difficult to watch abused women falling back into the same track, but Suzanne had handled enough of these cases to know they sometimes struggled through a number of separations before they could make the final break.

  Maddie shrugged and wiped her eyes. “The only thing he really cares about is his money.”

  Suzanne wanted the court to come down hard on Morgan, anything to shake him out of his self-satisfied smugness. “I can call his attorney to let him know what happened. I’ll tell him if Greg does it again, we’ll prosecute the contempt citation for a maximum penalty.” Her desire for revenge burned inside, and she shut the lid on it yet again. This wasn’t the time. “But he’ll keep on until something gets his attention.”

  “I know. I’ve got to stand tough.” Maddie’s hands twisted nervously in her lap.

  “Have you kept meeting with the support group at Womanspace?”

  “I was going for awhile, and the kids had group, too, but they didn’t like it.” She sounded defensive. “I couldn’t leave them with Greg because of the custody order, and they didn’t want a baby-sitter.” She must have detected Suzanne’s disappointment, because she quickly added, “I know, I’m making excuses.”

  Suzanne nodded. “It’s difficult. I do understand. Once the psychological evaluations are done, you can get back into a custody hearing and maybe solve those issues. You’ve met with the doctor, right? You and the kids?” Maddie nodded. “Greg will have to go, and the longer he puts it off, the more difficult it will be to convince the evaluator he’s being aboveboard.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “What I hope it means is that Greg will eventually give in and make a settlement on the property rather than give us an opportunity to demonstrate his mental problems in court. Wouldn’t look good to the electorate, you know.”

  Maddie smiled wanly. “Appearances do mean so much.”

  “You should still go to the doctor and document your injuries, in case we need to go to court. What’s your position on getting this thing finished up? The less ties he has to you, the more likely he is to move on.”

  “I’m done. I know now I can’t trust him.”

  Suzanne agreed. “I’ll put together a final proposal and draft a settlement agreement. His lawyer will go over it with him, and all we’ll need is a couple of signatures.”

  Maddie hugged her. “Thanks, Suzanne. I’m sorry for dropping in, but I wasn’t sure what to do.”

  “That’s what I’m here for.” Suzanne walked her to the door. “The day will come, you know, when this will all be over.”

  “If we live that long.” Maddie smiled, but there was fear in her eyes.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll outlast him.” Suzanne wished she could feel as confident as she sounded.

  ****

  Two weeks into January, and the IA investigation still hadn’t closed on Nick. Roy White was beside himself, and Nick was beginning to flake out. Suzanne had had enough frustration over the lies crucifying Nick.

  One of the reasons she’d gone to law school was to right the wrongs, help those in need. She could stand by no longer and watch this injustice occur, no matter what Nick said. He might think he was handling everything well, but his usual professional demeanor had begun to crack. From what she knew of police department politics, and the odd vibrations T.R. had reported, there was more at work here than a simple mistake. Someone had to find out what.

  Maybe Nick didn’t feel he could put anyone else from the department in a bad position, but Suzanne didn’t have any such reservations. Hank Ferguson had to be able to help. Nick trusted him like a brother, and he certainly had been warm to Suzanne at the Sandoval banquet. She and Nick would never be able to move forward on the road to a permanent relationship as long as this hung over their heads. She had to do something.

  First, she had to get in the station.

  She pinned up her hair, tucking it under a stocking cap, so it wasn’t so readily noticeable. Red hair always seem
ed to attract attention. A pair of old jeans and Hope’s Steelers warm-up jacket transformed her from successful attorney to potential delivery girl. She stopped at Tony’s to buy a couple of meatball subs and a bag of chips. All the way to the station, she prayed her disguise would get her through the front door and into Hank’s office, long enough to get the information she needed.

  All she wanted was the name and address of Nick’s accuser. She’d find the girl herself and talk to her, find out why she was saying these things about Nick, and see if she could convince her to come forward and tell the truth.

  She slouched into the lobby, chewing a wad of gum, pausing at the front desk to announce she had a delivery for Hank Ferguson. The desk sergeant hardly looked up as she waited, staring at the floor, hoping no one would recognize her. He made a quick phone call and told her to have a seat, Hank would be down.

  Too nervous to sit in the well-worn leather furniture in the lobby, Suzanne paced, noting the contrast of the well-polished floors and the cobwebbed ceiling corners. The first floor of the police central administration building had been restored to its appearance a century before by some well-meaning supporters. The details along the ceiling and walls were now a cream color, the walls burgundy, and the weathered frescoes had been retouched to bring the colors to full brilliance. Taken as a whole, Suzanne decided it had been a much more baroque era. She preferred her airy flowers.

  “Miss, I didn’t—”

  At the first sound of Hank’s voice, Suzanne turned to reveal her face, warning him with a look not to give her away. He visibly reassessed his response, giving a quick glance around the lobby. Apparently he saw no one who alarmed him, so he came closer.

  “It’s five-fifty, and I don’t have change, man,” Suzanne said. “Maybe you got exact change in your jacket?”

  Take the hint, damn it.

  Hank seemed to catch on slowly. “Yeah, c’mon upstairs and I’ll get your money.” He pulled her along with him past the frowning desk officer and his feeble protests about a visitor’s pass. As soon as they were out of sight, Hank’s demeanor changed, and he gave her a quick hug.”Golly! I’m happy to see you. How are you?” He hesitated as blue eyes softened, and asked, “How’s Nick?”