Sue (17 page)

She’d been gripping the pen so
tightly her fingers were cramped when she finished. Dr. Camden ought to be
pleased.

She’d drained some of the poison;
now she could put it out of her mind. At least, that’s what she told herself as
she lay back down, pulled the blankets over her body, and curled up on her
side. A tear leaked onto the pillow.

Outside, a lone figure stood in the
shadows of the garage next door and watched Sue’s apartment for a few more
minutes. As he trudged back to his vehicle, he slid the sharp tip of his key
along the side of Melvin’s car, leaving a long scratch.

Chapter 24

After class the next day, Melvin
sat in Roxie’s office and outlined his plan with her and Will.

“I don’t see anything wrong with
your proposal,” Will
said
. His tone was reserved,
however. He and Roxie exchanged glances.

Melvin looked from one to the
other. “What? You guys have something on your minds. Tell me.”

“Sit down, Melvin.” Roxie indicated
the chair in front of her desk.

“Uh-oh.
Must be bad news.”
He seated himself and waited expectantly.

Will sat in the other chair and
casually leaned an elbow on the arm. “I think I’ll let Roxie present this to
you. She’s better at this kind of thing.”

Melvin turned his eyes to Roxie.
Her green eyes were kind. “We’ve been throwing around some thoughts here.
That’s all they are right now, just thoughts. First of all, you’ve been doing a
great job on the Cox case and the arrangement seems to be working just fine.”

“But?”

“But we wonder about Susan; we have
some doubts. I know you like her, Melvin. We do too, especially Will. He feels
a particular bond with her because of the situation. But she hasn’t fully
recovered from her ordeal. She has a lot of problems.” Roxie brushed back a
stray lock of red hair. “It’s understandable after all she’s been through.”

“I’m not getting you.” Melvin’s
heart started pounding a little harder.

Will scratched his head and opened
his mouth, but changed his mind about speaking.

Roxie’s voice was gentle. “It
occurred to us that maybe Sue has engineered everything that’s happened to her
recently.”

Melvin started to object but Roxie
raised a hand, stopping him.

“It’s just a theory at this point,
Melvin. Hear me out. You have to remember that Sue was under enormous duress
while she was with Zeke, probably on an adrenaline high a lot of the time, from
panic and other emotions. The chemistry of fear is a powerful thing. It’s
possible she has a need to continue the drama because she’s not able to accept
that the danger is over. So she sends valentines and flowers to herself and
that way she stays in crisis mode. And she keeps the rest of us on alert, too.
Maybe there’s a security factor involved. Perhaps she feels safer knowing there
is a group of supportive people; you, Will, me and her parents, all looking out
for her safety.” She leaned back in her chair with a sigh, and gazed out the
window, collecting her thoughts. “I don’t like to think this way, Melvin. None
of us do. But we need to consider all options.”

“No.” Melvin stood. His jaw was
clenched, but his voice was level. “You’re wrong. Sue’s a victim; she’s really
and truly afraid.”

“Maybe she doesn’t even know she’s
doing these things. She could do them in a fugue state or compartmentalize her
actions so that her conscious brain isn’t even aware,” Will suggested.

“She’d have to be really messed up
to do that.” Melvin swallowed hard. “And I don’t think she’s that bad off.
Sure, she has some issues. I won’t argue that. But nothing like you’re
suggesting.”

“Melvin, we’re just speculating
here,” Will
said
with a conciliatory tone. “Sue could
have done it all herself. I’d hate for that to be the case, but really, better
that than Zeke coming back around.”

“Maybe it’s not Zeke.” Melvin then
told them about the incident with the pizza guy. “He’s enough of an arrogant
jerk to do something like this.”

Will sat forward, interest piqued.
“Okay, now that’s intriguing. Maybe you’re onto something there.”

“So, now you see it my way? That
changes things a little, doesn’t it?” Melvin tried not to be smug, but it was
difficult. He repressed a triumphant grin.

“Yes,” Roxie admitted, turning to
Will. “It could make a difference. At least it’s an incident that can be
corroborated.”

Will agreed.

“There’s something else,” Melvin
said, chewing his bottom lip. “Sue didn’t want me to tell you but I think I should.”
He proceeded to tell them about the letter Sue found in her door and that they
suspected someone had been inside the apartment.

Will frowned. “Melvin, you can’t
keep things like this from us, no matter what the client wants. Our duty is to
protect her and to do that we need to be kept up to date on all incidents.”

“I realize that. That’s why I’m
telling you. Plus, she reported it to the police and they checked for
fingerprints. Turns out the only ones found were from people that would have
had a reason to be there.”

There was a brief silence while
Roxie and Will assimilated this information.

“Another thing, she hasn’t told her
folks about the letter,” Melvin said. “She doesn’t want to worry them.”

“Melvin, they’re the ones picking
up the tab for this.” He rose from his chair and put his hands in his pockets.
“Truth is
,
they paid a generous retainer. We haven’t
even used that up yet. This is kind of a sticky situation.” Will rubbed his
chin. “I’ll tell you what. Given this new development, I see no problem
authorizing your stakeout tonight.” He glanced at Roxie and she nodded. “I’ll
hold onto the information about the letter until we know if something comes of
your surveillance. Then we’ll see. Okay?”

Relief crossed Melvin’s face.
“Sounds good.
Because she more or less put me on the spot
about keeping her business private, not letting her parents know.”

Patting Melvin on the shoulder,
Will said, “Well, I’m letting you off the hook on that for now. I’ll take
responsibility for what information we choose to share and when we do so. But
as for you, you work for us and you are to share everything you learn with us.
Am I making myself clear?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I’m well aware the agency pays my
wages. I know my job and I do it.”

Will
walked
through door. Melvin and Roxie stood and followed him into the hall.

“Just be careful tonight!” Will
said over his shoulder as he moved toward his own office. “Don’t take
unnecessary risks.”

“I’ll be fine.” Melvin grinned.
Finally, an opportunity to do some genuine authorized
surveillance.

Chapter 25

That morning Sue’s mother called
her. “Honey, we were wondering if you’d come for supper tonight. You haven’t
been over for days.”

Sue was busy at work, but set aside
the document she was working on. “I know. I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve just been really
busy. And, anyway, don’t you have to work?”

“Gail is taking my shift tonight.
She needs the extra hours. And your dad worked the day shift, so he’ll be home,
too. We’d love to see you.”

“Um, I kind of already have plans.
Melvin’s supposed to come over. We were going to pick up hamburgers on the way
home.”

“Melvin?
Really?
Well, that’s nice. You could bring him over here, you know.”

Sue considered the suggestion. It
could turn out to be a pleasant evening. “I’ll ask him.”

“Okay, let me know. Now, I don’t
want to keep you, I know you’re working.”

“I’ll call you later. Bye, Mom.”
Sue disconnected and looked at the time. Melvin would be on his way to class.
She listened closely; both her bosses were busy on phone calls, so she dialed
Melvin. She didn’t expect him to say yes to the invitation, but he surprised
her.

“Dinner with your
folks?
I’d love to.”

“But what about
our plans for the night?”

“It won’t change our plans. I
wasn’t going to start playing spy until
midnight
anyway.” He chuckled softly.

“Well,
good
then. I’ll see you after work.”

The meal was a success. Melvin
talked to her dad as if he’d known him for years. Her folks obviously liked
him. Then a thought crept in unbidden. Her parents wouldn’t have liked Zeke,
even in the beginning before things went bad. But, he’d refused to meet them.
She gave herself a mental shake.
Don’t ruin the night by thinking of him!

While her dad entertained Melvin
in the front room, Sue picked up some dirty dishes and followed her mother into
the kitchen. “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”
She paused, a platter in her hands.

“Did you and Dad want me? I
mean,
were you wanting
a baby when I came along?”

Linda set the dish on the
counter and a look of pleasure crossed her face. “Did we want you? Oh, my
goodness, yes. We tried for years, went to a lot of doctors. It was starting to
look like we’d never have a family of our own. We even talked about adoption.”
She pulled Sue into her arms for a hug. When she stepped back, her eyes were
moist. “I almost didn’t believe the doctor when he told me I was pregnant. I
was so excited!”

“Daddy,
too?”

“He was thrilled.” Her mother
frowned. “But what brought this on? Why would you ask me this?”

“I don’t know. It was just
something I wondered about.”

Sue’s mom squeezed her
shoulder lightly, a look of tenderness on her face. “When you were born, it was
the happiest day of our lives. You made our family complete.” She quickly
turned and busied herself, as if embarrassed by the raw emotion.

To relieve the tension, Sue changed
the subject and pitched in to help wash the dishes.

They only stayed a few hours, but
her parents were fairly beaming when they walked them out. “Come back again,
Melvin,” her dad said. “Maybe we can do some fishing when the weather warms
up.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.” He shook
her dad’s hand before leaving and thanked her mom for the meal.

Sue stared at him. She’d never
known a guy her age to have such impeccable manners. Of course, her dating
experiences had been extremely limited.

When they got to Sue’s apartment,
Melvin insisted she wait by the door while he checked the rooms. Once he was
satisfied there were no intruders, they shed their coats and sat on the couch
looking at each other.

“Well?” Sue asked.

“Well what?” Melvin draped his arm
over the back of the sofa, looking more relaxed than usual.

“What do we do now?” Sue raised her
eyebrows.

“We wait. Our cars are outside. Lights
are on so whoever it is knows we’re here, if he’s watching. We just hang out
for a few hours and sometime around
midnight
,
I leave. Then, I sneak back.”

“What if nothing happens? How many
nights do you plan to do this?”

He shrugged. “As many as it takes.”

She felt a small jolt of attraction
as his eyes held hers. “Okay,” she said softly. “But won’t you get bored just
sitting here?”

“I’m never bored when I’m with
you.” His tone was casual, deliberately so.

Sue let the compliment slide by
without response. She stood. “Well, I’m going to make some popcorn and fix us
something to drink.”

She returned a few minutes later
with a bowl of popcorn and a couple of cans of soda, which she set on the
coffee table. Plopping down next to Melvin, she opened her drink.

“Tell me about your girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend.”
Melvin tossed a few pieces of popcorn in his mouth.

“Okay, then.
Ex.
What’s her name? What was she like?”

He stalled while he finished
chewing and then fiddled with the pop top on his can. It made a tinny sound as
he snapped it, not pulling hard enough to actually break the seal. Tap, tap,
tap
. Sue tried to quell her annoyance and finally placed her
hand on top of his, stopping the action, before pulling her hand away.

“Oh, sorry.”
He grinned.
“Fidgeting.
Drives my
mom crazy.”
He opened the can and took a long drink.

“You don’t have to answer if you
don’t want to.”

“No, I don’t mind.
Just collecting my thoughts.”
He looked down at his hands,
ran a finger around his watchband, tugged at his shirt collar. He took a deep
breath before speaking. “Her name is Allison.”

“
What’s she look
like?” Sue was surprised at her own curiosity.

“Almost as tall
as me, willowy.
Auburn hair, really pale skin.
She’s pretty. Not in a striking way like you...” He gave Sue a sidelong glance.
“But in a quiet way. You don’t even notice it at first. You have to be around
her for a while, see her smile,
hear
the way she
talks. Then you see it. Anyway, we had some of the same classes; that’s how we
met.”

“So, did you get along pretty well?”

“Yes, I thought so. I was very
comfortable with her. We were comfortable with each other.”

“Wow, comfortable,” Sue teased.
“That sounds more like a pair of slippers than a relationship.”

“I guess.” Melvin gave a half
smile.

Sue grew serious. “But it hurt
pretty badly when you broke up, huh?”

“I was kind of expecting it by the
time it finally happened. Our communications dwindled; calls came less
frequently, same with emails. So I guess I suffered the hurt in installments
over a few months time as things just sort of fell apart.”

“How’d she tell you? Or did you
find out from somebody else?”

“She was direct about it.
Called me up.
Said she had feelings for another guy, strong
ones, and that made her realize that what we had was basically a ‘friends with
benefits’ type of thing. There was no future for us.”

“Ouch.”

“That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
He filled his mouth with popcorn and chewed vigorously, cutting off further
discussion for the moment.

Sue watched his jaw move, noticed
his eyes roaming the room, looking anywhere but at her, sensed his
vulnerability. A tender feeling bloomed inside her and she had the sudden
impulse to reach out and touch his face. It was fleeting, there and gone within
seconds.

Melvin seemed uneasy with her scrutiny.
He swallowed hard and guzzled his soda. Finally he looked directly at her.
“What?”

“Let me ask you something.” Sue’s
face was unreadable. “Are you
comfortable
with me?”

Melvin had the look of a man who
just perceived a trap in his path, a particularly tricky one. He could think of
no good response. If he said yes, that might be construed as an insult. If he
said no, it could have the same result. He carefully placed his soda can on the
table. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

“Just tell the truth. You’re big on
honesty.”

“You make that sound like a
negative instead of a positive.” He sighed as if about to tackle an unpleasant
task. “Okay. The true answer is yes and no.”