The Only Shark In The Sea (The Date Shark Series Book 3) (10 page)

“Vance,” Natalie said, her voice scared but honest, “whatever happened between you and Stephanie, I’m sure you two can work it out.”

That was all it took. Burying his head in his hands, Vance broke down. The privacy of their table kept any of the other patrons from witnessing his pain. Natalie had never wanted to touch someone so badly in her life, but she couldn’t bring herself to reach across the table and even pat him on the back. The call from her father had brought everything back to the surface. Old hurts had reopened, salt crammed into wounds as payment for running.

Tears ran down her own cheeks as she tried and failed to make herself do something to comfort the man who had brought her more peace than she deserved in such a short time. He wasn’t supposed to be her friend and she wasn’t supposed to care for him so much, but what they meant to each other had blurred almost from the beginning. It broke her heart to sit there with no strength left to comfort him. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

She doubted her words were even loud enough to be heard, but Vance’s flushed face lifted from his hands and he seemed surprised to see regret and pain etched so plainly on her face. “What are you sorry about? I’m the one who’s supposed to be helping you and I’m a freaking mess.”

“I can’t…” Natalie faltered, staring down at her useless hands. “I can’t do anything to help you.”

Vance’s expression softened. “You don’t have to be able to touch me to help me, Natalie. You’re already doing more than I deserve. I’ve got to be the worst shrink in the world right now.”

“You can’t be Super Shrink all the time, right?” Natalie said. A timid smile turned one corner of her mouth up. It was all she could manage, but it was enough to help Vance regain control.

“Right.” He offered her a smile as weak as her own, but it was something. “Listen, let’s talk more about your dad tomorrow, okay? For now, be extra vigilant, and I’m serious about the restraining order. How about some dinner? I’m starving and I just need to, I don’t know, I just need to be doing anything but thinking right now.”

It was an excuse not to go home and deal with his problems, but something in his expression hinted that maybe she wasn’t the only one struggling to define their relationship anymore. He needed a friend, a listening ear, and she had every intention of being exactly that. She needed his support just as much as he seemed to need her in that moment. For once, Natalie welcomed the closeness.

“Sounds like we have a lot in common,” Natalie said with a sigh.

Vance released a slow breath. “Yeah, maybe we do.”

The tension they were both carrying lessened one thin layer at a time as they stopped talking about problems and dangers and fears and talked about nothing at all. Natalie knew they were both stalling, both afraid to go home and face what they were running from. Maybe it was cowardly. Maybe it was coping. She really didn’t know, but it was what they both needed. She knew it wouldn’t last, just like Vance did, but facing her darkest secrets could wait one more night.

Chapter 13

The Child

Vance wasn’t ready to go home. He hadn’t thought to grab anything before he’d stormed out of the apartment, but he couldn’t face going back yet. It was the first time in the thirteen years he’d been with Steph that Vance had been in such a position and he had no idea what to do as he and Natalie paid their checks. Like any couple, he and Stephanie fought on occasion, but never anything serious or long lasting. Although, he wondered bitterly, perhaps that was because she had lied to him more than he realized. He had no idea anymore.

That probably wasn’t fair to think, but he was hardly in the right frame of mind to care. Natalie stood and he followed, wishing he had a reason to stay a little longer. Talking to her for the last few hours hadn’t just been cathartic, it had been enjoyable on a level he hadn’t expected. Something he wouldn’t mind doing again. The thought again crossed his mind that maybe keeping Natalie as a patient wasn’t wise, but he knew a decision like that shouldn’t be made in his current frame of mind. Neither one said anything until they were both standing on the sidewalk outside the café. Vance was the first to break the silence.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay at home tonight?” It wasn’t just him stalling. He was truly concerned about her safety. Samuel seemed like the more immediate threat, but Natalie had run from her parents for a reason.

“I’ll be fine.” Natalie tried for confident, but she wasn’t fooling anyone.

Worried, Vance pulled out his phone. “I have several patients I see because of a court order. I have a few contacts in the police department who owe me a favor or two. Let me make a few calls and see if someone can maybe drive by your building a few times during the night.”

Natalie attempted to protest, but it was weak. Vance was scrolling through his contacts when a call from Guy lit up the screen. His first reaction was to ignore the call because he didn’t even want to hear about Stephanie in that moment, but worry she had gotten worse or there was a problem with the baby quickly changed his mind. He was angry, but needed to know she was okay. His fingers trembled as he answered the call.

“Hey, Guy.” He hesitated asking about Stephanie, but the strange silence on the other end of the line scared him. “Guy, is everything okay? What’s going on?”

Natalie tucked her bottom lip between her teeth as worry sprung to her face, but she remained quiet. So did Guy. For almost a full minute, his friend said nothing.

Panic rising fast, Vance asked, “Guy, please.”

“Stephanie, she is gone,” Guy finally said.

The strangled quality of his voice twisted Vance’s gut. “What? She left me? She’s just gone?”

Processing such a startling concept was impossible. Vance stumbled back a step and had to lean against the café window. She just left? Vance wasn’t even sure he wanted to try to work things out with her, but she just took off? The baby…Vance was struck square in the chest by the realization that the baby was probably already lost. If Stephanie left, it was likely because she had no intention of discussing it with him before she made her decision. He had no doubt after their earlier argument that she would abort the baby before he could track her down to talk.

“Vance,” Guy said slowly, “Stephanie has not left you because of whatever you two fought over. She is gone. She is…they are not sure what happened yet. I found her when I arrived and called for help, but it was too late. I need you to come back to your apartment to speak with the police. Do you understand?”

Gone?
Dead?
Vance must have misunderstood. There’s no way Stephanie could actually be gone. Vance’s knees buckled. Natalie rushed over to him and kneeled down on the concrete, but wrapped her arms around herself, trying to hold in her panic. “Vance, what’s happening? Is Stephanie okay?”

Her fingers were cinched around her jacket so tightly her knuckles were white. It was an odd thing for Vance to notice in that minute, but he couldn’t seem to focus on the words coming over the line. Guy was talking. He could hear his voice, but understanding what he was trying to say was like attempting to decipher Chinese. The worry in his voice escalated every second Vance didn’t respond. It was possible Natalie was talking too, but it all sounded like white noise behind his agony.

Someone tugged the phone out of his hand. Vance could only assume it was Natalie, though he didn’t know how she managed to get it without touching him. Another observation he knew was the wrong thing to be focused on. He was desperate not to think about what was really happening. If he just sat there staring at the cracks in the sidewalks and the scuff marks on his dress shoes, would it all disappear?

“Vance. Vance, you need to get up. Please,” Natalie begged.

Anyone else might have grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Natalie just sat there pleading with him to listen to her. A car drove by. It was green, with whitewall tires of all things. Vance watched it until it disappeared around a corner. Why had he left the apartment? As angry as he’d been, she was sick. She needed him. He’d left her. Now she was gone. The baby was gone. Everything he loved had vanished.

Hands grabbed him, and even though he knew they weren’t Natalie’s, he didn’t resist. What did it matter if someone was trying to mug him? A vague sense of concern that Natalie might be in danger nagged at him, but it didn’t last. Someone yanked his arm around their neck, which seemed like an odd thing for a mugger to do. He was moving forward a second later. His feet seemed to be moving, but he wasn’t sure. Not until he found himself standing next to the passenger door of his car and someone started fishing through his pockets did he start to wonder what was going on. Where they going to take his car too? With him in it?

“Thank you,” a woman said. Natalie? “Could you just help him into the car? I’ll have to leave my car here. Will that be a problem?”

“We’re open all night. I’ll make sure someone keeps an eye on it,” a man replied.

Vance lost track of the conversation after that. He was too busy being shoved into his car. The next thing he knew, he was parked in front of his apartment building. There was a voice in the back of his mind telling him he needed to get out and face what was happening. It was quiet, and he had no interest in listening to it. Vance couldn’t go in. Going in meant seeing Stephanie. No, it meant seeing her body. An image of her lying dead on the bathroom floor where he’d left her broke him. Collapsing in on himself, he lost touch with everything but the overwhelming pain.

“Vance,” someone said. It could have been seconds later or hours. He had no idea. He was numb, but he could feel the pressure of someone squeezing his arms. It disappeared a moment later and reappeared on his face. The rough grip of whoever was talking to him forced his head around and suddenly Guy was in front of him. “My friend, you are in shock. Please listen. You must take a deep breath and try to focus. I know you are hurting, but the police need to speak to you. Do you understand?”

Vance thought he might have nodded. He heard everything Guy said, but none of it made sense. Shock. It wasn’t shock. It was guilt shutting him down, penance for abandoning Stephanie when she needed him.

“Vance,” Guy nearly shouted. “Vance, you must focus, please.”

Blinking, Vance looked at one of his closest friends. He tried to focus on what he was asking. The best he could do was take in a breath, the first solid breath he had managed since Guy’s phone call. The oxygen seemed to flood through his body, reaching his mind last of all. Vance still felt as though he stood in a bank of fog, but his focus improved enough to meet Guy’s eyes.

“Good, good,” Guy said. “Take another breath. Keep breathing and focus on my voice.” He began counting. Vance had done the same thing for Natalie just the day before. More than once. For some reason, that thought helped ground him.

Vance was vaguely certain Natalie had driven him to his apartment, but he wasn’t completely sure. It was an uncertainty he latched onto. After exhaling once more, he drew his eyes up to Guy and asked, “Natalie?”

“She is right next to you. Here for support. She will stay if you want her to, yes?”

That last bit was directed at Natalie. Vance didn’t look back, but the nod from Guy must have meant she’d said yes. The speck of rational thought Vance had left said it was stupid to ask Natalie to stay. This had nothing to do with her and he had no right to ask something like that. Knowing she wasn’t leaving was strangely comforting, just like her compassion had been back at the café. Vance knew he didn’t deserve it, but he said nothing.

“Can you get out of the car?” Guy asked. “I will take you to the officer in charge of the scene.”

“The scene?” Like a crime scene? Had Guy told him something earlier that he’d missed? He paled at the thought of someone having attacked Stephanie when he wasn’t there. “Was it a break-in?” Vance finally managed to ask through his confusion.

Guy tilted his head to the side as if he were confused by the question. His eyes lifted to Natalie for an answer.

“I don’t think he heard anything you said after you told him Stephanie was gone,” Natalie said. “He just kind of crumbled after that and I had to take the phone from him.”

Sadness spread across Guy’s features, deep and tormented. “Vance, there was no criminal involved, as far as anyone knows. The doors were locked. I used my spare key to enter the apartment. Stephanie…I found her lying on the bed. There were pills…the police, they suspect she took her own life.”

“No,” Vance gasped. “She wouldn’t do that. It was just her head. Migraines.”

“You and she fought, yes?” Guy asked quietly.

Vance pressed a hand to his mouth. He couldn’t bear to speak. A nod was all he could manage, sharp and riddled with guilt. “She didn’t kill herself.”

“I do not believe so either, but the police need to ask you questions. Do you think you can do this?” Guy asked. “The police do not want to remove the…Stephanie until they can ask you about what happened. If you are not able to speak with them, I will tell them they must wait until tomorrow.”

“No,” Vance said suddenly. He couldn’t let them take her before he saw her. He had to tell them they were wrong. Stephanie wouldn’t do that. She was scared, but she was strong. Even though the pregnancy had terrified her, even with their fight, she wouldn’t have chosen to end her own life. He had to tell them that.

Pushing Guy away, he stumbled out of the car a second later. His friend was forced to regain his balance after being pushed before he could get up to follow him. The slam of a car door said Natalie was in pursuit as well. He didn’t stop to wait. He ran.

Sprinting up to his apartment door, the only thing that stopped him from bursting right in was how the officer’s hand went to rest on the butt of his gun when he saw him. Vance skidded to a stop. Breathlessly, he blurted out, “I live here. She’s my girlfriend.”

The officer looked past Vance to where Guy was stumbling up behind him. “It is all right,” Guy said in a rush. “This is Vance Sullivan. The officer in charge wished to speak with him before the coroner arrived.”

The officer nodded and gestured for them to go ahead. “Detective Castelo is in the bedroom cataloging evidence.”

“Evidence?” Vance choked out.

“The pills,” Guy explained as he set a firm hand on Vance’s shoulder. “The coroner will need them to determine how much of the pills were in her system and whether or not there were any other chemicals in her body.”

Before taking over Eli’s date shark business, Guy had been one of the lead psychiatrists at a prominent Chicago hospital, in charge of patients on the psychiatric floor. He knew a great deal about toxicology screens and substance abuse. Vance was determined to prove everyone was wrong about how Stephanie…about what had happened.

He crossed the living room quickly, but a massive wall of a man stopped him at the entrance to their bedroom. All Vance could see around his bulky frame was the fluorescent orange nail polish gleaming on Stephanie’s toes. She hated having her feet twisted up in the blankets. Almost every morning he woke up to her toes peeking out from under the blankets. The realization that this was the last time he would ever see her toes knocked the breath out of him. Guy forced his head down, his hands on his knees, all while he demanded a nearby officer let Natalie into the apartment.

“This is Stephanie’s boyfriend, Vance Sullivan,” Guy said to the huge man. “Detective Castelo needs to ask him some questions, and Vance would like to see her before the coroner arrives. Please, let him through to say his farewells.”

Slowly, Vance straightened. “Please,” he begged.

The officer stepped aside. Vance had what he’d asked for, but his body refused to move. Not until Guy put his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it did he find the courage to take one step forward. Breathe. Take another step. Inhale. Step. Exhale. Step. It seemed an eternity and a mere flash in time before he was standing next to the bed he had shared with Stephanie since moving into their apartment after graduating medical school. The idea of sleeping in it without her was enough to make his heart stop.

Vance had been to funerals before. More than he would have liked. Everyone always commented on how peaceful the deceased looked. He couldn’t hold back his tears when saw her. Peaceful was the last word he would have used to describe her. Twisted in the blankets, half-curled into a fetal position, her hands were cupped around her head. She had died in pain.