Secrets in the Shadows (30 page)

She covered his Miranda rights, and when she had finished, Wyatt stepped in again. “Where were you last Thursday evening and night?”

His eyes full of distrust, Troy looked from Wyatt to Stacy and back. “Am I under arrest?”

“That depends on whether or not you have an alibi for Thursday night.”

A little of the tension in the younger man’s shoulders eased. “I was home with my wife. She’ll verify that.”

Wyatt coughed. “Anyone else who can say the same?”

Troy’s lip curled into a sneer. “Why, my wife’s word ain’t good enough for you?”

“Well, not really. No. So is there?”

With a put-upon sigh, Troy slumped back in his chair. “I guess my mother can.”

“Okay. Obviously, we can’t ask her about that right now, given that she’s holding a death vigil for your father.” Wyatt spoke with deliberate bluntness, and watched his words have the desired impact. The reminder of his father’s impending death caused Troy’s hands to clench on the table. When he saw Wyatt’s gaze drop to them, he moved them off the table.

“That upset you for some reason, Troy?”

“What do you think? I should be with my family, not here in this shitty room with you.”

“Now, son, there’s no need to get crude. And I promise you, if you can give me the answers I need, I’ll let you go back to your family. But if you can’t convince me that you didn’t have anything to do with these crimes, I’ll charge you with them and your family’s going to be alone.”

Wyatt could practically see Troy’s mind racing as he considered his options. “Well, I don’t know what to tell you—I was home with my wife.”

Wyatt nodded and moved on to the murder. Pulling out the flier that showed Troy in Charity Vaughn’s bedroom, he held it in his lap and asked the man about that night. “What about Monday night? Do you have an alibi for then?”

Troy sat back, obviously trying to look nonchalant as he answered. “Sure do. Same thing—I’m a family man, cop. My wife will be glad to tell you that.” He ran his eyes over Stacy with a look that made Wyatt’s hair stand up. “Yeah, she’ll be glad to tell you about Monday night. I had her screaming for hours, and it wasn’t with pain.”

Playing his trump card, Wyatt slid the flier across the table. “Then how do you explain this? This is you, isn’t it? In the apartment of a woman who was found murdered the next day?”

Every bit of color that had been in Troy’s cheeks drained out. The silence stretched in the room, and then he swallowed. He raised his eyes to Wyatt’s, all emotion gone from his expression. “I’d like an attorney.”

Wyatt smiled. He stood and opened the door to admit the deputy stationed outside. “I thought you might say that. Stacy, you know what to do.” As he walked next door to talk to Ethan, he heard her tell Troy he was being charged with his sister’s murder.

“Well, that was a big surprise,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes.

The sheriff wasn’t concerned. “He’s an ex-con. I expected he’d lawyer up.”

“Yeah, it figures, but I thought this one might be a talker, for some reason.”

Wyatt clapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck up there in Jefferson County. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Ethan nodded. “Will do. I’ll see you later.”

Wyatt saw Stacy and the other deputy escort Troy out of the interrogation room. “We’re going to head to the booking room, Sheriff. Do you need anything else before we go?”

“No. I think we’ve covered pretty much everything we need to for the moment. Once you’re finished, take a break and get some food. We’re going to have a ton of paperwork to wrap this one up.” He watched them go down the hall, thinking about the firestorm that was going to erupt when the news about this case broke. It was going to be a long night.

After she’d gotten some of the emotions out and calmed down enough to talk, Lauren and Charlie moved into the kitchen, where she watched him prepare a pot of coffee.

“So what now?” she asked.

He looked over his shoulder at her. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t even know. What do I do about telling my parents? What do I do about the shop? Any of it?”

He hunkered down, taking her hands in his. “You lean on the people who love you a little, and you take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time.” Charlie reached up and smoothed her hair back, letting his hand linger to caress her cheek. “And you give it time.”

Lauren turned her face into his hand, eyes closing. “Can you help me forget? Just for a little while?” When he drew in a quick breath, she opened her eyes and saw the stunned look on his face. “I don’t mean sex. Just—hold me. Make the ugliness go away? Like you did earlier?”

He swallowed, holding her gaze steadily, even though the hand touching her face trembled ever so slightly. “Are you sure you’d be comfortable with that?”

“I don’t know.”

With a short laugh, he put his head on her knee. “What if I mess things up?”

Tunneling her hand through his hair, she smiled. “You won’t. I might, but you won’t.”

With a low growl, he captured her face between his hands. “Don’t say that. Please, don’t say that.”

Before he could say anything else, Lauren pulled him in and kissed him, her mouth moving against his with desperation. Very quickly, he took command of the kiss. When she scooted to the edge of her chair, trying to get closer, he rocked back on his heels and overbalanced. In a flurry of movement, they both ended up on the floor, Lauren on top. It was blatantly obvious that Charlie was aroused and, feeling that, she rocked her hips against his.

He groaned and reached his hands down to stop her. “Lauren, no.”

She didn’t bother responding, just lowered her mouth to his. Biting his lower lip, she soothed the wound with her tongue and deepened the kiss.

Charlie locked one hand in her hair and, using the other to anchor her hips, rolled them so that he was on top. Carefully encircling her wrists, he held her hands above her head. “Lauren, sweetheart, not like this. Listen to me—you’ll hate both of us if we keep going.”

She shook her head in denial and wrapped her legs around him. “No, I won’t. I want this. I want you.”

Breathing heavily, he forced her to look him in the eye. “No, you don’t. Or you might, but not like this. I care about you too much to let you do this right now.” He saw the realization dawn on her face, and let go of her hands.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. Charlie, I—” she stammered. Covering her face with her hands, she gave a shuddering, embarrassed laugh that turned into a sob. “Let me up, please.”

“Not just yet. Look at me first.” She turned her head away, but he gently guided her eyes back to his. “Listen to me. Okay?” He waited until she nodded before he continued. “Someday, I have every hope that you and I will consummate this relationship.” Very slowly, he moved his hips against hers. The movement caused them both to suck in a breath. “I will be a very happy man when that happens. But today, right now? If we do this now, you will regret it. Lauren, when we come together, I don’t want either of us to have any regrets.”

Carefully, he eased off her and helped her to her feet. Once they were standing, she wouldn’t look at him.

“Lauren?”

She shook her head. “I need to call my parents. Will you excuse me?”

~
* ~

Standing in the kitchen after she left, Charlie cursed under his breath. Stopping had been the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn’t risk their future relationship for a few minutes of mindless passion. Even if she initiated it.

When she returned a few minutes later, she was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and carrying an overnight bag. “I’m going to meet Mom and Dad at their house and spend the night.”

“Okay. Would you like a ride over? I’m going that way.”

For a moment, he thought she was going to refuse, but she nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it.”

Charlie’s heart sank at her withdrawal, but he didn’t try to argue with her. “I don’t mind at all. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I just need to lock up.”

The drive to Molly and Winston’s house was quiet. When they pulled into Charlie’s driveway, Lauren spoke.

“About what happened—I’m sorry.”

He shut the engine off and looked at her. “Please don’t apologize.”

“No, I need to. I practically assaulted you. You didn’t ask for that. Of all people, I should know better than to do something like that.”

Stunned, he just stared at her as she unbuckled her seat belt. Before she could get out, though, he scooted across the seat and stopped her. “Don’t you dare compare what just happened between us to assault. That’s insulting to both of us. Sweetheart, if you approached me like that under normal circumstances, we’d still be on that floor. But you’ve had an incredible shock today. Just let it go, and we’ll hash it out after you’ve had a chance to process everything.”

“Okay. Thank you—for coming over, and for the ride.” She got out before he could say anything else, and Charlie followed her to the edge of her parents’ property.

“I’ll check on you tomorrow. Call me if you need me?”

Lauren just waved and went inside, leaving him standing on the edge of the driveway. “Well, that went just terrifically well.” Not knowing what else to do, he let himself into his own house and slammed the door.

Mary Margaret sat in a chair next to the hospital bed watching her husband’s labored breathing. His doctor had come in a little bit earlier and had taken her into the hall to talk.

“It won’t be long,” he told her sympathetically. “Probably within twenty four hours, if he even makes it that long. We’re doing what we can to keep him comfortable, Mrs. Vernon. Is there anything we can get you?”

“No,” she told him, stoic and tragic. “You’ve treated Carl real well, Doctor. I appreciate that.”

“I wish we could have done more, but we just didn’t get to him in time. If he had come in for treatment a few months earlier, we might have been able to preserve at least part of his kidney function, but it didn’t work out that way. That’s neither here nor there, now. Try to get some rest. You’re going to stay here with him tonight?”

“That’s my place, Doctor. I’ve always been a good wife to Carl, and I won’t stop now.”

“Okay, then. Just use the call button if you need anything.” As he headed down the hall, she turned and went back to be with her husband. That was almost an hour ago. After speaking with the doctor, she had called Pastor Jenkins. He should be arriving any time now.

Carl moaned, a low and mournful sound, and she reached out to smooth the thinning hair off his brow. His face was bloated and yellow from the fluid buildup. Dialysis was no longer enough to purge the toxins from his system. He coughed, the wheezing breath rattling deep inside his chest as he fought for air. When he opened his eyes, he motioned with his hand to indicate that he needed to sit up.

“I’ll fix the bed. Hang on.” She pushed the button to raise the head of the bed, and winced as he coughed harder and harder. He held up a hand when he was propped up enough, and was finally able to draw in a slightly deeper breath. The coughing spell wound down at last.

With a dampened washcloth, she wiped the phlegm from his mouth and nose. After a minute, he caught his breath enough to ask about the pastor.

“He’ll be here soon. Don’t you fret, now. Save your energy so you can talk to him when he gets here.” Carl nodded weakly and closed his eyes, exhausted by the effort to stay conscious.

Five minutes later, Pastor Jenkins came into the room, carrying his bible. He walked over and gave her a gentle hug, speaking in a low voice so as not to disturb Carl.

“He’s really been wanting to talk to you tonight, Pastor. I hope he’s able to.” Moving to the bed, she lowered one of the rails and gently shook Carl’s shoulder. “Pastor Jenkins is here.”

He roused enough to open his eyes, and looked over her shoulder. When he saw the man standing there, he seemed to gain energy. Wheezing, his voice raspy from disuse, he spoke. “I need to talk to you.” His gaze locked onto the other man, and he waved his hand at his wife. “Mary Margaret, go get some coffee or something while I talk to the pastor.”

“Of course, Carl. I’ll be back in about ten minutes.” She thought she’d go to the cafeteria and get something to eat, but she only made it halfway down the hall before realizing she’d left her wallet behind. She went back down to the room and eased inside, protected from view by the privacy curtain. As she reached for the closet door handle, she realized what Carl was saying and froze.

“I’ve done some bad things, pastor, and I want to confess my sins before I go to meet God. I had desires, a man’s desires, you understand?”

“Of course. Most men do, Carl.”

“I couldn’t help myself, no, sir. I did things with my daughters. Things that were wrong. I told myself to stop, that the Lord didn’t want me to act like that, but I couldn’t quit.” A spasm of pain crossed his face, and he coughed deeply.