Dance With Me (14 page)

She was in a postage-stamp of an apartment, waitressing during the day, and a part of the ensemble in the revival of
 
A Chorus Line.
 
It sounded like hell to him, but what did he know? Instead of playing the overprotective big brother, he said, “As long as you're happy.”

Cam spent a little time assuring him she was happy, and made him promise to call more often before she had to run off.

He hoped she was telling him the truth about being happy, but he doubted it. His usually bouncy baby sister seemed to be trying a little too hard to convince him everything was wonderful. So much younger than the other three Everett kids, she had been doted on and sheltered, and her outlook had always been so sunny, but today seemed forced. He directed his attention back to the papers on his desk. Cam was a big girl, and there wasn't much he could do from three hundred miles away even if he knew for certain something was wrong.

~*~

Kat opened the door to find a beaming Carter Jamieson. “Why are we smiling?”

“
Oh, maybe because the charges against you have been dropped,” Carter answered, his grin widening.

She held onto the doorknob to keep from falling out on the hardwood floor. “What?”

He strode into the house, catching Kat by the elbow and guiding her to sit in the overstuffed chair in the living room, choosing the couch himself. “I'm not kidding, Kat. Tyler police found a blueprint of your studio in the gas tank of Priscilla's car. The CA's office is dropping the charges against you because they feel they have a stronger case against Priscilla.”

“
So, no trial?” she asked, realizing after the words left her mouth that it was a dumb question. No charges meant no trial.

Carter shook his head. “No trial.” His smile dimmed. “You may still be questioned in conjunction with Priscilla's, though.”

Her mood went from elation to trepidation when she thought of how Priscilla's trial would affect Mason. She could only imagine what kind of hell testifying would be for him. “Mason,” she started.

Carter's mouth firmed, all remnants of his smile gone. “I know,” he agreed. “I know he talked to the detectives, but he hasn't said much aside from assuring me he wasn't raped.” He grimaced. “I never thought...” he trailed off.

“
It seems everyone knew Priscilla was obsessive, but no one thought she'd go so far as committing multiple felonies.” It still bothered her that no one saw it, but then again, she hadn't believed it until it was almost too late herself. She straightened. “Isn't she insane? I mean, will she actually stand trial?”

Carter made a face. “She is crazy, but I don't know if she's incompetent. If Gregory Peters were smart though, he'd go with an insanity defense. It would get her remanded to the psych ward, but she wouldn't end up at Fluvanna.”

“
So, maybe Mason won't have to testify?”

“
If the defense were successful, it would mean Priscilla is insane.” He paused. “It's not the same as a conviction.”

“
She would still be locked up though, right?” she asked, toying with the pillow in her chair.

He adjusted his glasses. “In a sense, yes.”

She tilted her head, noting Carter used his glasses when he wasn't comfortable with an answer. She hoped he never played poker. “I think I'm okay with that.”

Carter thought a moment. “She knew what she was doing, Kat. This was premeditated and planned. She might be crazy, but I don't think she's insane.”

“
She just needs to be locked up for a long, long time.” Crazy, insane, or otherwise, Priscilla McClaren was a threat to Mason. If something happened and she were freed... She stopped herself. She had nearly lost him once before, she couldn't go through that again.

“
You'll get no argument from me,” Carter agreed as he stood. “Well, Miss Cleared-of-All-Charges, I'd better get back to the office.” He squeezed her shoulder as he walked past. “Have Mason call me later.”

She watched Mason's lawyer and friend let himself out, lost in thought. Carter was a wonderful attorney and a great friend, but he was a bit of an absent-minded professor. She smiled. She was free to go and do as she pleased! On the heels of that joy, she was racked with sorrow at the thought of moving back into her apartment. She didn't want to leave Mason's side. Not ever again.

~*~

Jason Monroe gestured with his habitual roast beef on rye. “The CA's office is going Ayles County vs. McClaren.”

“
Of course they are.” Chris Delmonico crunched a chip as he thought about the case. A county prosecution was all that made sense considering the circumstances. He just wished Aylesford had been given the lead in the investigation instead of the so-called support role they now filled. He knew their team was better, and Aylesford PD wasn't corrupt. He wasn't so sure about Tyler. “I don't like that arrogant prick, Davis.”

“
Who could? The man acts like he runs Tyler.”

“
Cavindish isn't bad, though.”

“
Don't talk to me about Cavindish,” Jason growled.

Chris's eyebrows went up. “What the hell is wrong with you? First you curse a blue streak when we're officially given orders to take a background role, now you're barking at me when I mention Cavindish.” He made a kissy-face. “You miss Caufield that much?”

“
Fuck you,” came Jason's eloquent reply. “Cavindish is married to my sister.”

Shocked, Chris asked the first question that came to mind. “You have a sister?”

Jason attacked his lunch, ignoring Chris's question until his sandwich, chips and pickle were gone. “Genevieve is twelve years older, and I never see her.” He tossed the wrapping in the trashcan behind Chris's head. “Ya know what? We're not talking about this.”

Chris had never seen Jason this agitated in eight years of working together. “Whatever, man. All I said was Cavindish wasn't a bad cop. Davis, though, now that bastard is a piece of work.”

“
That's an understatement,” he agreed before switching topics. He didn't need to dwell on Gen and her husband, or his shitty past. “So, if we're not doing much on this case, we'd better get back to Caufield's ex-wife's murder.”

“
I knew all that grouchiness was just because you missed Caufield!” Chris exclaimed as they left the cafe.

Jason didn't bother answering. It wasn't like Delmonico was listening in the first place.

~*~

Mason wandered down the hallway of Aylesford Memorial Hospital. He wasn't exactly sure why he had come, but once he'd arrived he knew it was to see Caleb before going home to Kat. His brother was a doctor, surely he had some magic pill to make his anxiety go away or something. He needed Kat like he needed air, and right now he felt like he was drowning. He shook off that disturbing thought. He would not let Priscilla win.

Caleb had just come out of the ER when he saw his brother standing in front of his office with a bewildered expression on his face . “Looking for me?”

Startled from his thoughts by his brother's voice behind him, Mason turned. “I guess I am,” he answered as he walked through the door into the tiny office. “They can't afford to give you actual space?”

Caleb laughed. “At least I have a space. I'm a junior attending physician, Mase. They didn't have to give me an office at all.”

Mason shook his head. “You chose to go to school for twelve years, endure years of grueling residency, and now you have an office with barely room enough for a desk. Honestly, I don't understand you how do it.”

“
I needed to.” He leaned against the wall of his office, allowing Mason to sit in the one chair he had. “You came to me, bro. How can I help?”

Mason sat back in the desk chair Caleb had allowed him to claim. “I need Kat.”

Caleb had an idea where his older brother was headed with this, but had to make him say it himself. He'd dealt with victims of violence during his residency, more often in the last few years as an attending in the ER, and each coped differently. “She loves you.”

Mason stood up. “I almost died, Cale. I almost died because a woman took me from my office. I almost died because I didn't do anything to stop her.”

Caleb stayed quiet a long moment. “You almost died because a crazy woman was fixated on you and shot you full of enough sedatives to make a bull compliant. You didn't have a choice, Mason. Not unless you wanted to let her kill you in your own office.”

He sat back down, the small room constricting and without room to pace. “I knew she was obsessed. I knew she was scaring off my dates. I knew it and I didn't do anything about it.”

“
Last time I checked, putting visine or ipacac in someone's soda is exactly the same as kidnapping,” Caleb said drily.

“
No, it's not, but I never thought she would do anything like this.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I kept Kat from all of you for more than a year because I knew Priscilla would try and scare her off.”

“
She wouldn't have run,” Caleb assured. “She loves you, and she wouldn't have believed Priscilla even if she'd spun a tale. You're not God, no matter how hard you try in that pretty bank office of yours, and you can't predict what other people will do.”

“
Really? The doctor who brings people back from the dead is gonna tell me I'm not God?”

Caleb snorted. “Nice redirect, there, Mase, but this isn't about me, is it?”

Mason hung his head. “No, it's not. It's about me. I...”

He stayed where he was against the wall, waiting for Mason to finish his thought. He couldn't imagine the torture his brother had been through, even though he'd seen the damage. The shallow cut that ran the length of his sternum, the wide swathes of missing hair from his tape bondage, the multiple injection sites from various sedatives and tranquilizers. It may have only been less than a day, but it had to have been hell.

“
She was going to rape me, Caleb,” Mason admitted quietly. “I found out today the final syringe was full of an injectable
 
prostaglandin.” He glanced up to catch Caleb's wince. “If she had gotten me with that needle, if I hadn't broken through my bonds...” he trailed off.

Shit. Priscilla wasn't playing around when she'd grabbed Mason. Prostaglandins caused erections very quickly, whether or not a man was “in the mood” and sometimes resulted in priapism. “You did break your bonds,” Caleb reasoned. “You got away.”

“
But if I hadn't...”

“
You did,” Caleb stressed. “You found your way out.”

“
What did she do to me while I was unconscious? What did I do when I was drugged and I don't remember?”

Caleb shook his head. “Does it matter?” When Mason opened his mouth to reply, he cut him off. “No, it doesn't matter. You were drugged, Mason. Drugged, with enough in your system that I could have removed your spleen, your gallbladder, a kidney, and a lung and you wouldn't have noticed until the next day,” he exaggerated to get his point across. “I saw your tox screens, I know you wouldn't have been able to do anything. Hell, I have no idea how you were able to fight your way free with that much shit in your system.”

Mason swallowed. “She left me alone for an hour—or at least she said it was an hour—before she came back with the last syringe.”

Silently, Caleb cursed the internet. Priscilla had done her research. She'd kept him sedated for hours, but before she shot him full of what was better than a little blue pill she gave him time to recover. Coupled with the adrenaline, he understood how Mason broke free of the duct tape he himself had removed from his brother's wrists. He shuddered. “She wanted you lucid,” he said.

“
She wanted me hard.” He stood again, knocking the chair on the floor. “She wanted me to make her pregnant, and she was going to rape me to do it.”

Caleb gaped at his brother. He had known some of this, had surmised the rest, but he hadn't known about Priscilla's want of children through force. “What?”

“
She had a whole life made up in her head. Our son would be named Christian and would be President. Our daughter would be named Catherine and would be Miss America. She was determined I loved her, and we would have these children and everything would be wonderful.” He stopped, his fists and jaw clenched tightly. “I refused. I told her I didn't love her, that I'd never loved her and she shot at me. She shot at me and I ran away.” He raked a hand through his already thoroughly disheveled locks. “I ran away, Cale.”

Good lord. He crossed the tiny room to right the chair and help Mason sit down once again. “If you hadn't run, you'd be dead right now.”

Mason braced his elbows on his thighs and dropped his head into his hands. “Why didn't I fight her? Why didn't I stop her?”

“
You didn't know.” He lifted his brother's chin to look into eyes identical to his own. “It's not your fault. She is crazy, and she's going to pay for what she's done while you have one of the most beautiful women in Virginia waiting for you at home.”

Mason cracked a smile at the mention of Kat. “I do, don't I?”