Wicked Obsessions (21 page)

Kidder took a few steps toward her, making her look up from where she was seated to continue meeting his eyes. "Come now, Mrs. Gambini, you can do better. You don't believe that at all. When I first told you about the hair, you almost fainted from shock. You barely managed to answer me now. Face facts, lady. You haven't got what it takes to pull this off."

Teri felt herself recoiling, even though her body hadn't moved an inch. "What..." She choked on the question, but it had to be asked. "What are you saying?"

He moved even closer and bent toward her, so that now she had to lean back in her chair to keep from feeling his breath on her face. "We'll start with the blonde. You know who it is, or you have a very good idea."

"That's ridiculous!" Teri pushed him away from her and stood up. How could she tell him why she had reacted that way without explaining everything? It would be like pointing an accusing finger at Selena, then turning it back on herself as an accomplice. He would never believe her shock was all because of a very bad joke. "Why
shouldn't
I be upset? My husband was not only butchered, but just before that he had no qualms about meeting some strange woman for sex in an apartment on his route. Do you think I should simply accept all that like it was a daily occurrence?"

"You
were
getting a divorce... or did I misunderstand you before?"

Her hands balled into fists at her side. "Yes. We were."

"And yet there were no papers filed. I checked. I think
you're
the one who wanted a divorce... and your husband wasn't willing to go along with your plans. I think a man with a gambling problem as bad as his wouldn't let go of a wife right when she started raking in the big bucks."

She was certain the truth of his statement was written all over her face, yet she had to deny it or fall into the trap she sensed being set. "No, that's not true. He had agreed. I can show you the signed settlement agreement."

"But you knew he'd never make it that easy on you. Once he had that money, he'd fight you every step of the way, and you were in too much of a hurry for that. Because we both know his gambling wasn't your real reason for wanting a divorce."

She felt the trap but couldn't see where it was coming from. "We may have had some other problems, but nothing as bad as his gambling."

"That's a
lie!"
he shouted, marching toward her, making her back away from his sudden anger. "His gambling was your excuse to cover up for your own sins. A wife who fornicates with a man other than her husband shall be damned in Hell. And in your case, I'm going to be the one to send you there."

Teri stopped backing away. "You're insane. I never cheated on my husband in the entire twelve years we were married."

Kidder regained his composure to deliver his killing blow. "Is that so? Well, I'll admit that the two of you have covered your tracks very well. But not good enough to hide it from me."

Teri was so bewildered by his words that she stood frozen in place, gaping at him as he continued.

"The two of you obviously got tired of your long-distance affair. He got his divorce, but you were having trouble with yours. So you plotted your husband's demise. I know the how and why. I just haven't figured out where the blonde fits in."

"What
are
you raving about?
What
long-distance affair?" His smug expression told her he really believed what he was saying. That
she
had plotted with some man to kill her husband.

"Still playing the innocent, eh? Fine. I'll spell it out for you. Drew Marshall killed your husband and you helped him do it."

She staggered to the bed and slumped down on the edge. "Drew? And me? Detective, I hate to blow up your theory, but I never even
met
Drew Marshall until a few weeks ago. Besides that, he's a very gentle man. He'd never be able to kill another person."

"Another lie, Mrs. Gambini? Or is this another instance of you sticking your head in the sand? Save it for the jury. Your lover is an ex-con drug addict who very nearly killed several hundred people. I know
exactly
what kind of man he is. And I know what kind of woman you are."

Teri's mind reeled. What could she say to make him see how wrong he was? Massaging her temples, she realized the conclusions he had drawn were not all that hard to believe if you didn't know the truth. She had to appeal to whatever logic he had. "Please listen to me very closely, Detective. I met Drew the week before Rico disappeared. We have since become friends because of our work, but we
are
not,
have
not been lovers. And I did
not
need to have Rico killed. He had agreed to give me a divorce in exchange for bailing him out. And lastly, if I hated my husband enough to kill him, I would
never
have given him a gift of another woman as a going-away present!" Her conscience allowed her the two half-truths for salvation's sake.

Kidder glared at her for a long moment, but she straightened her shoulders and stared back.

"Have it your way for now, Mrs. Gambini. But let me tell you how it's going to be. When I'm through putting this case together, you and loverboy will be going away for a long time. Unfortunately, they don't have co-ed dorms in prison, so you won't get to be together in spite of all the trouble you went to. On the other hand, if you agree to testify against Marshall, tell me who the blonde is, and generally cooperate, I can almost assure you of a minimum sentence, maybe even probation, if you can convince the district attorney that you didn't really know what Marshall was planning until after it was over."

Teri's mind sorted out one important fact—he wasn't here to arrest her. Apparently it was all supposition—a hunting trip, as Drew called it—but would their innocence protect them from this hunter's trap? "Get out, Detective Kidder, and take all your false accusations with you. I've done nothing wrong, and neither has Drew."

"I'll go, Mrs. Gambini. But as TV show detectives say at this point, I'll be back."

Once he was gone, Teri's body gave in to the fear he had instilled. Her heart ran a race with her lungs and she couldn't control the trembling in her arms and legs. But she didn't cry. There didn't seem to be any tears left in her.

When Selena came up next to her and put her arm around her, Teri was startled out of a full-fledged anxiety attack. She had forgotten all about Selena.

"Are you going to be okay?" Selena asked quietly.

Teri blinked at her. As dumb as it sounded, she had to ask, "Selena, were you in the bathroom all this time?"

"Yes, sorry I couldn't help you with him, but I seem to have picked up an intestinal virus. I felt a little queasy this morning when I got up. I probably shouldn't have come over at all. What are you going to do about Kidder?"

"He's nuts. Absolutely, certifiably insane. And I'm scared to death he's going to send me to the loony bin in his place. Maybe I should file a complaint against him for harassment. But then, that might only make things worse." She took a deep breath. "Look, hon, why don't you go on home and take care of yourself? There's no way I'm going to be able to work with these anyway." She held up her quivering hands as proof of her statement.

Selena gave her a look of sympathetic understanding. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You will, too. Soon. I'll make sure of it."

* * *

Selena felt bad about leaving Teri alone, but she had something more important to do than sit there holding her hand until she calmed down. Although she had initially hidden in the bathroom to keep Kidder from seeing her without the red wig, the thin door had given her the bonus of being able to hear every word without either of them knowing she had eavesdropped.

She could not believe the false conclusions Kidder had drawn. There was nothing to substantiate them, yet he made it all sound entirely credible. Selena knew from all the cases she'd read about that circumstantial evidence, presented well, could get an innocent person convicted. Now she understood why he'd asked that question about Drew being Teri's old friend. He was trying to get her to provide him with proof that they were longtime lovers. How ridiculous!

Calling the media had been a risky thing to do, but she'd been certain that the more people there were who thought the mob was involved, the more the police would concentrate on that angle and leave Teri alone. Apparently Kidder wasn't influenced by the opinion of the press.

Juliette would have to be told they had waited too long. There was no time for a complex plan. They had to act quickly or Teri could be taken away from them, and that would be like losing Mommy all over again.

She hoped Juliette already had something in mind.

Chapter 13

Teri had stepped from one nightmare into another. Not knowing what had happened to Rico for a week had left her nerves ragged. Then the funeral had sapped what little strength she still possessed. But Detective Kidder was surely going to push her over the edge.

The morning after he'd made his outlandish charges, she decided to take a walk around the block. Rage flooded through her when she saw the detective sitting in a car parked across the street, watching her. She forced herself to take the walk, mainly to show him he wasn't intimidating her, but she cut it short when he got out of the car to follow her.

Her rage turned to fear when she realized it wasn't the first time she'd noticed that car parked there. Since she hadn't seen him in it, she'd assumed one of the neighbors had bought a new car. Had he forgotten to duck down when she'd walked out of the house just then? Or did he want her to know he was there, watching her every move? How long had he been doing this?

Long enough to know Drew had spent a night in her house? Her stomach spasmed violently as comprehension dawned. He must have known about that! He might also have seen them the night Drew had kissed her in the doorway.
That
was why he had come to the conclusion they were lovers.

And that meant her denial of an intimate relationship had sounded like a bald-faced lie to the detective. Could she now turn around and explain the truth in more detail, or would that only compound her guilt in his eyes? She realized no one who'd witnessed their passionate embrace would believe she and Drew hadn't slept together the night he'd stayed over. And here all she'd been worried about at the time was what the neighbors would think if they saw them.

She felt as though she were caught in a spider's web constructed of her own half-truths. Would anyone believe her now if she told the whole of it?

Would anyone understand how a bad joke had become reality and how she suffered from the guilt of knowing she had wished her husband out of her life?

Or that she and Rico not only knew a blonde woman, but one who had willingly offered to seduce Rico to set him up for an easy divorce, and that she had lied only to protect an innocent young woman from unnecessary harassment?

Or that she and Drew were only
thinking
of becoming lovers while her husband lay mutilated in the morgue, and she didn't feel the least bit guilty about that because she believed she deserved a little happiness?

She wasn't certain she believed it herself.

Staying inside her house kept her from having to see Kidder, but she knew he was out there. Her only consolation was knowing that if Vincent Nunzio decided to come after her for pointing him out to the police, she had a personal watchdog right outside. She wondered if Detective Kidder would finally believe her if something drastic did happen. She also found herself questioning whether he would actually do anything to stop the thug from hurting her. Telling herself he was still an officer of the law, regardless of his personal feelings for her, she was able to get a little sleep that night.

She woke on Friday, preoccupied with thoughts of Drew. She couldn't wait to see him. They'd talked, but she hadn't told him about Kidder's nasty visit. She didn't want to put one distracting thought in his head during such an important career opportunity. She had to wait until she could tell him in person. It had occurred to her that Kidder would see him arrive and draw more false conclusions from that. But she was certain he was already drawing a different false conclusion about his not coming by for the past week.

As originally planned, she went shopping for a special dinner for Drew's return. What she hadn't expected was an uninvited police escort everywhere she went, but she decided another confrontation with Kidder would serve no purpose.