Murder Stalks (22 page)

Chapter 20

Tony rushed back to the ER. Marissa’s eyes
were fixed on the ceiling. His heart clenched. Why hadn’t she told
him?

“
That took a while.”
Marissa smiled, reaching out for the bottle of water.

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tony asked, surprising himself with his straightforward question.
He hadn’t always been that way with Marissa. Usually, he hid his
feelings and used manipulation to control her. He had been working
on that before she’d left him.

“
What are you--? Oh, you
overheard.” A blush settled across Marissa’s cheeks, making her
appear years younger and smaller than ever. Tubes connected her to
an IV bag and wires crossed over her body. The steady beat, beat,
beat of her heart was displayed on the monitor behind her head. He
had to stick around to protect her.

“
Tony, I couldn’t tell
you.”

A stab of pain clenched his heart. His arm
shot out and he leaned against the wall, steadying his body from
the onslaught of betrayal. He wanted to ask why she couldn’t tell
him, but he couldn’t say the words. He didn’t want to know if this
baby was someone else’s.

The door pushed open behind him. Rex
strolled in, looking like a model straight off the cover of GQ.

“
Marissa, you look
beautiful.”

“
Rex, thank you for coming
by.” Marissa opened her arms and Rex moved forward, planting a kiss
on the top of her head.

Tony’s eyes squeezed shut and suspicion
ground at his thoughts, making it hard to not jump to conclusions.
He opened his eyes and saw Rex holding onto Marissa’s hand.
Jealousy made Tony want to rip Rex away from her hospital bed and
force him to stay in the waiting room like everyone else.

The door opened again and the nurse pushed a
large machine into the room. “I’m sorry, but you two are going to
have to leave.”

“
Please let them both
stay,” Marissa begged.

“
Sweetie, are you sure?”
The nurse asked, eyeing Tony and Rex with disdain.

“
Yes, if the baby’s not
okay--” A sob stopped the words. Tears flowed from her eyes and Rex
bent down to hug her.

Tony wanted to kick Rex. He wanted to beat
his face with his fist and make him pay for the pain shooting
through his heart. Revenge wasn’t his way. Life had taught him
retribution never had the effect one hoped for, so he walked calmly
over to the bed and held Marissa’s other hand. He closed his eyes
as the nurse pulled up Marissa’s hospital gown, exposing her belly
and underwear.

The nurse spread gel on Marissa’s belly and
placed the paddle in the goop. A blob of black and white appeared
on the monitor above the nurse. She moved the paddle across
Marissa’s stomach, giving no indication whether or not the baby was
fine. Tony held his breath as worry ran its course. He didn’t want
Marissa to lose another child. Ashley was more of a loss than
anyone should have to endure. He sent up a prayer, hoping God was
listening, begging for a miracle for Marissa.

“
Oh good, I see a
heartbeat. It appears you’re in good shape. You need to schedule
another ultrasound in about two weeks. At this stage, it’s too
early to see much so the next ultrasound is just a precaution,
nothing to worry about.”

Tears flowed down Marissa’s cheeks as Rex
wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight. Tony noticed Rex
was relieved, not shocked or surprised. Why had Marissa wanted Rex
in the room with her? The answer was obvious, but Tony didn’t want
to believe Rex or Marissa would betray him so deeply.

“
Marissa, I need to speak
with Rex outside.”

“
Sure,” Marissa said
weakly. Her eyes closed as exhaustion set in. Tony doubted she
would be awake for long.

Rex followed Tony outside and into the
oven-like heat. On the way out, Tony barked at a uniformed officer
to guard Marissa’s room. The hot air did little to soothe his
anger.

“
What was that all about?”
Tony snapped.

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
Why didn’t you look
surprised when Marissa’s pregnancy was mentioned?” Tony’s voice
came out harshly through gritted teeth. He hated this conversation.
Rex was his best friend, but right now he didn’t know if he was a
killer or an adulterer.

“
Tony, I think you need to
calm down.”

“
Calm down? I need to calm
down? My wife was almost murdered tonight. Then I find out she’s
pregnant. And now, the guy I thought was my best friend is closer
to my wife than I am. Why did Marissa ask you to stay in the room?
What did you do?”

“
You think I fucked your
wife.”

Tony’s fist was in the air and his hand
bashed into Rex’s cheek before he could stop it. Rex stumbled back
a few feet, anger flashing in his eyes. Tony saw his fists ball at
his sides, but he never raised them.

“
Did you?” Tony asked.
Anger pumped through his veins, making him want to punch Rex
again.

“
No, you idiot. I’ve never
touched Marissa. She wouldn’t have me. God, I tried before you were
married. I thought she was making a big mistake. I went to her one
night ten years ago and told her as much. I wanted her then, and I
would have gladly taken her away from you at the time. But you’re a
stupid jerk. She loves you.

You are the one who screwed it up. If you
lose her, it’s your fault. And guess what, Einstein? The baby is
yours.” Rex blew out a breath and crossed his arms. “Earlier this
week, I was downtown looking into some information on the Douglas
rape case. It was the day we worked the Longfellow case. I ran into
her at Dr. Ortega’s office. She was crying and I asked why. She
spilled her guts. Apparently, her husband didn’t care enough to
call her and she didn’t have the gumption to pick up the
phone.”

Tony sat on the curb, his head in his hands.
“What have I done?” He saw Rex’s feet in front of him, and wondered
briefly if Rex was going to kick him. A band of cicadas buzzed in
the trees behind them. Rex moved next to him and sat down. He
bumped Tony with his shoulder.

“
Tony, man, get your butt
back in there and tell her you’re sorry. Tell her you love her and
get your relationship back on track.”

“
What if she doesn’t want
me back? She doesn’t trust me and I don’t know...”

“
Don’t know
what?”

“
If I can trust
her.”

“
You’re going to have to
talk to her. But if you aren’t in there when she wakes up, you’re
going to miss an opportunity you won’t get again.”

“
Damn it, this is too
hard.” Tony flexed his hands at his side, trying to calm his racing
heart.

“
Hey, you know what?
Sometimes life sucks.”

“
What does that
mean?”

“
You figure it out. I need
to go home and get an icepack on this.”

“
I can’t believe I hit
you.”

“
Don’t worry about it.
I’ve wanted to hit you more times than I can count. Maybe next time
I’ll just do it.”

Tony’s shoulders sagged. His life was
crumbling faster than he could put it back together. First his wife
left him, now he was out of a job. Ashley’s death was being
reinvestigated, and today he found out his wife was pregnant. After
losing Ashley, they had both wanted another child. They had planned
it, worked at it, and been disappointed month after month when
nothing happened. He wondered if they could they have conceived
before she left. Fear and doubt played a trick on his mind. Maybe
Rex was wrong and the baby didn’t belong to him.

Tony made his way back to her room and took
up his post by Marissa’s bed. He slouched in the chair and let his
head drop to the side. He woke a few hours later when Marissa
started pulling on clothes.

“
What are you
doing?”

“
Getting dressed. I’m
leaving.”

“
Did the doctor discharge
you?” Tony asked.

“
No, but I can’t stay here
any more. I’m fine.”

Tony’s shoulders ached and his head swam. He
shouldn’t have slept in the chair. “I’ll go get the nurse and ask
if we can leave.”

“
I’m going back to my
apartment.”

“
You can’t.”

“
What?”

“
The police are probably
still gathering evidence. You’ll have to wait. I’ll take you to the
motel where I’m staying.”

“
I don’t know.” Marissa
pressed the call button and summoned the nurse.

Tony wrapped his arms around her and held
her close. “I promise I’ll behave. I want you to be safe, and I
need to watch after you for a while.”

“
Tony...”

He held her away from his body and stared
into her eyes. “I’m not going to take no for an answer. I love you.
I’m going to take care of you for a while. After the threat is
gone, we’ll talk about our future.”

The nurse disconnected the IV from Marissa
and had them sign a few papers. Tony helped her out to his car and
drove across town to his motel room, the one with a single king
sized bed. Sleeping together was something Tony had wanted since
the day Marissa walked out, but the cost of obtaining his dream had
been too much. He’d failed Marissa and almost lost her. Now he had
a chance to make everything right again and this time, he wouldn’t
blow it.

Chapter 21

Nightmares happened more often than not, but
Tony didn’t want this one, especially this one, to be true. He
stretched his arms out but recoiled before he touched the form next
to him.

Who’s next to me this morning?

He turned over, letting the covers fall from
him. He reached out again to touch the person and sighed when he
felt the soft rise and fall of her shoulder. She was still alive.
His dream was just that, a dream. There were no dead bodies in his
bed. He wasn’t covered in blood. Marissa lay beside him. It had
been too long since he had seen her relaxed in sleep.

Tony wanted to pull her into his arms and
make love to her. Reality held him back. He rolled out of bed,
letting his feet hit the floor with a thunk. Marissa groaned and
rolled to face the wall. He pulled his shorts on and tugged a shirt
over his head.

Quietly letting himself out of the room, he
padded across the parking lot to the small ‘Waffle House’ on the
corner. Two large cups of coffee and a bag of pastries later, he
returned to the room to find Marissa gone. He let the door slam
behind him, his eyes searching for a sign of her. The toilet
flushed and relief washed over him. She was still here. No one had
gotten to her.

“
Good morning.” Tony held
up one styrofoam cup of coffee and the bag of pastries. “I have
some food if you want anything.”

“
Just water, thanks.”
Marissa gave him a watery smile.

Tony wanted to pull her into his arms.
Instead, he set the coffee down on the nightstand so he could grab
her a cup of water. She blanched, pushing him out of the way, and
ran for the bathroom.

He should have remembered, but he hadn’t.
How could he forget the smell of coffee made her sick when she was
pregnant? The bitterness of not knowing about her pregnancy until
yesterday had left him feeling angry and deceived.

“
Marissa, can I get you
some water?”

“
No, I’ll be
fine.”

Tony wandered back over to the small desk
and sipped at his coffee before he tossed it outside. He hated the
way his thoughts were going. Marissa didn’t have to tell him about
the baby, but why wouldn’t she? Unless it wasn’t his. Damn it, he
needed to stop thinking that way.

“
You said you got some
pastries?” Marissa asked as she popped her head out of the
bathroom.

Tony swallowed his anger, not wanting to
scare Marissa off and into the killer’s waiting arms. “There are a
few muffins and sweet rolls. Would you like one?”

“
Thanks. I think I’ll have
a muffin.”

“
How far along are you?”
Tony asked.

“
I didn’t know I was being
interrogated.” Marissa flopped onto the bed with a muffin in
hand.

“
I’m not interrogating
you, I just want some answers.”

“
This is exactly why I
didn’t tell you earlier. You can’t see my side.”

“
What does that have to do
with anything?” Tony yelled, his control slipping with each minute
alone with Marissa.

“
You don’t get it. I’m not
some recruit you can boss around. I have feelings,” Marissa said as
she choked back tears.

“
Marissa, I’m sorry. I--I
want you to feel comfortable here.”

“
Two months.”

“
What?” Tony stared at his
wife, unsure what she was talking about.

“
I’m two months along. I
guess I conceived the night before I left.”

“
Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
Tony, I can’t go through
this right now. I’m tired and I need to go home and clean my house.
I mean, apartment.”

“
You can’t go back yet.
They won’t have cleared the scene.” Tony sat next to Marissa; her
warmth drew him close. He wanted more than anything to pull her
into his arms.

“
What the heck am I
supposed to do?” Marissa asked. She stood and paced the floor, her
hand going to her head every few steps and rubbing at her
temple.