Chapter 7
When Oliver awoke the next morning he felt remarkably better. He didn’t hear any noise in the rest of Anabelle’s house. Where were she and the girls?
He pushed himself up to a seated position. There was more pain, and a bit of dizziness. A white paper on the nightstand caught his eyes. A note.
Good morning. I took the day off from work. I still brought the kids to my parents for the morning. But you can see them later. I’ll be home in a bit. Don’t get out of bed without me there. Your phone is right here in case you need it. Anabelle.
He leaned against the headboard and sighed. He knew he had to call his mother, but he wasn’t looking forward to her reaction. Just once, he wished she would consider his needs first. He punched in her number.
“Hello, son.”
“Hi, Mom. How are you?”
“I’m all right. Your voice sounds funny.”
“Yeah. I have to tell you something.”
“Come over and do that.”
“I can’t, Mama. I fell yesterday at work and hit my head.”
“I’ll be right over to take care of you. Helen Sorge can bring me.”
“I’m not home. I’m staying with a friend.”
“You should be with family.”
“I’m comfortable here with her.”
“Ah, a woman!”
“Yes, Mama.”
“How will I know you’re okay?”
“She’s a doctor.”
“The same woman who handed me off to another doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Harrumph.” He recognized the tone. It usually preceded her not speaking to him for a while. Sometimes, she ignored him for a whole day.
“Listen, I need to go. But I’ll come over as soon as I can drive.”
Nothing.
“Goodbye, Mama. I love you.”
Nothing.
He disconnected.
And, as usual he felt like a bad son.
The door opened and Anabelle walked into the room. She was dressed in yellow shorts and matching top. Her hair was up in a ponytail. She set down the cup of coffee next to him. “Hi.”
“Hi. Did you get the girls off?”
“Yes. It’s hot as hell today so they’ll enjoy the pool.” She reached over and covered his hand with hers. “How are you feeling?”
“Better but still weak.”
“You need to eat. I’ll cook you breakfast.”
“Not yet. Sit with me while I have my coffee.”
She pulled over a chair.
“Was it easy to take the day off?”
“Yes. I had to reschedule one patient but tomorrow was better for her anyway, so it worked out. I haven’t told you this, but I have to decide something about work.”
“What?”
“I wanted to talk to you about this. I was offered the position of Chair of the Cardiology department.”
“Wow. Way to bury the lead. Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“This was the first chance I got, love.”
He grinned. “You called me love?”
“I did?”
“Back to the job. Do you have time for that?”
“Curt tried to tell me I’d have more free time. Or at least I could control my time better.”
“Hmm. It doesn’t seem that way to me.”
“It doesn’t. And Mom said the same thing when I called her.”
“I’m afraid I’m biased here, Anabelle. I want you to spend that time with me and the girls.”
“Over the last few days, I’ve felt the same.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “I think—”
His phone rang. He glanced at it. “It’s Captain Marshall.”
“You should answer.”
“Hello.”
“Captain Marshall here. I’d like to meet with your whole team at the collective asap. I have news.”
Oliver sighed. “I’m better today than yesterday.”
“But you cannot go out!” This from Anabelle who stood before him, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Who’s that?”
“My girlfriend. I’m staying at her house but I still can’t do much. And she’s right. I can’t go out yet.”
“Could we meet there?”
“Hold on a second.” He pressed mute. “He wants to meet here.”
“That’s fine by me.”
“Everybody will know about us.”
“I guess it can’t be helped.”
“We can meet here, Captain Marshall.”
“Good. I’ll call everybody else. Let’s give them some time. How about one o’clock?”
“Yes, that works for us. See you then.”
“Do you think everybody will be free?”
“I think they’ll make themselves free.”
When he disconnected he asked, “Do you want to talk about being the chief of cardiology.”
“No. I pretty much decided it’s not what’s best for me. And in truth, I don’t want it.”
* * *
Anabelle left the house once again, this time to get Oliver some clothes.
As she walked into his condo, she sighed.
The last time she was here, they’d made love.
She hadn’t noticed much then. The walls were painted a stark white, but color was everywhere else.
Teal blue pillows on the fabric couches.
Urns of green plants spaced throughout. She took the hallway down to his bedroom.
A blue duvet with beige windowpane covered the bed.
One wall was filled with shelving and a big TV. Huge windows.
She found a suitcase in the closet. Nice clothes hung there, but he’d prefer more casual ones if he was lying around.
So she chose some knit shorts, sweatsuits, T-shirts and underwear.
She liked the tight navy ones he wore the night they made love.
Smiling, she grabbed some toiletries and headed back home.
Again, she heard the TV coming from the bedroom. She brought the suitcase there. “Hey, I thought you might go back to sleep.”
“No, I decided no more oxy. I took the Advil I found in your medicine cabinet when I went to the john.”
“So you got up?”
“Yeah, but truthfully, I was a little dizzy. I think I have to lean on you when I get out of bed. And maybe you’ll have to dress me.”
She caught the teasing and how his blue eyes danced. “And give me a sponge bath, I’d guess.”
“Oh, yeah, of course.”
A smile teased the corner of his lips. “Or you could just climb in bed and staddle me.”
“No, way. That’s too much for you right now.”
“Honey, that can’t ever be too much for a guy.”
* * *
Finn was early to the meeting with Marshall. He wanted to see how his friend was doing. Since he married Elise, he hadn’t been available as much as before and felt bad for that. He rang the bell. A beautiful woman answered the door. “Hi. I’m Finn McKenna, Oliver’s best friend.”
“Yes, hi Finn. I’m Anabelle.”
“Hello, Anabelle. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Good, I hope. He’s in the bedroom. I wouldn’t let him come out until the meeting today.”
“Is he a cooperative patient?”
“Most of the time. He’s a terrific guy.”
“I think so too.” She led him down the hall to a master suite. Oliver looked over. “Hey, buddy!”
Leaning down, he hugged Oliver. There were lines around his eyes and mouth and his skin was pale. He didn’t like seeing his friend hurt. “I’ll leave you two alone,” Anabelle said. “Finn, would you like something?”
“No thanks.”
When she was gone, he sat in the chair by the bed. “You’re dressed.”
“Did you expect to see me in a hospital gown?”
“No. And don’t joke about this. I’m really worried about you.”
“I’m much better, Finn. I had a CT and nothing else is wrong. But don’t tell Anabelle how I’m doing. I got a sponge bath and help dressing today.”
Finn chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Finn frowned. “So, you tripped over a barbell. I swear I didn’t leave anything out when I last used them.”
“I know. I didn’t either. You know what that means?”
“It’s our stalker. Or murderer. Or whatever the fuck he is.” Oliver shivered. “Man, I hope Marshall has some good news for us. Like he found the guy behind all this.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s wearing thin.”
They heard the doorbell ring. “We should go out. Everybody’ll be here soon.”
“Want me to call Anabelle for you to lean on?”
“No, wiseass. I don’t. I think I’ll let my best friend do it.”
* * *
Daisy and Heath arrived together. Anabelle welcomed them, then discreetly disappeared. Daisy rushed to Oliver. “Oliver! You’re the latest victim.”
He took her in his arms. “I’m doing pretty well.” She drew back and wiped away tears.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
Heath asked, “Want me to check your stitches?”
“No, thanks. Anabelle did it. And I got a CT, which was clear.”
“Glad you listened to her, at least,” Heath said dryly.
Anabelle came out then. “Hello, everybody. Hi, Heath.”
He bolted up. “You’re his Anabelle.”
“Yes. Nice to see you again.”
“You two know each other?” Oliver asked.
Heath nodded. “From the hospital.”
Scarlet arrived with Captain Marshall. “Hi, everyone.” She went to Oliver, too. Leaning over, she gave him a brief hug. “How are you?”
“I’m getting better.”
“One of my treatments helped Finn. I can do an attunement on you after this if you want.”
“Maybe.”
Daisy thought about reinforcing that but kept quiet.
Anabelle brought in a tray of coffee and tea, cups and wonderful smelling chocolate chip cookies. They thanked her. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything else.”
When she left, Marshall sat forward in his seat. “Homicide found the man who murdered Cary Jacobs.”
“Then this is over?” Juliet asked.
“Not quite. The culprit, Spike Holder was released from prison two days before the murder.”
The air in the room deflated.
Finally, Heath said, “So Finn’s beating, the explosion, the snake, the barbells, they were all done by somebody else?”
“I’m afraid so. Holder was in prison when the first incidents happened, then he was in jail again when Oliver tripped. Somebody else did the other things.”
“Captain Marshall, we appreciate everything you’ve done.” Heath again. “But in light of this, what the hell is going on with your investigation?”
Marshall kept his calm, Daisy would give him that. He sat forward in his chair. “Believe it or not, I’m working hard on this.”
“Not hard enough.” Heath was obviously upset. “Two of our members have been physically hurt.”
“You’ve got to understand. The incidents are so different, we have multiple MO’s. We’re expecting that they’re all related but who knows?”
“You should know!” Finn, this time.
“I have an opinion.”
“Which is?”
“I think they are related. I’m not big on coincidence. But I don’t have any idea how they’re connected. All I know is one person couldn’t have done it all.”
“How are you going to handle this better?” Heath pushed.
“I honestly don’t know anything better to do or I’d have done it. I’ve consulted with our best guys. They’re doing everything they can behind the scenes.”
“Can you call the FBI?”
“None of this is in their jurisdiction.”
“Maybe the aggregation of all six incidents would be enough.”
“Maybe. All right, I’ll call them.”
Daisy could tell he didn’t want to. Usually, she was more sensitive than this, but they were talking life and death here so everybody had to be vigilant.
* * *
Captain Marshall got back to them the next day. Oliver was still at Anabelle’s so the whole group met there again.
“I called the FBI,” he said, clearly annoyed. “I talked to one of my contacts. He refused to consult here because the murder has already been solved and the incidents weren’t under their jurisdiction.”
“But…”
“But…”
“No, no more about that. I tried to tell you contacting him wasn’t going to go anywhere. For what it’s worth, he called me an idiot for even checking with him. And he’s right. Everything will be investigated by my department. That’s the last I want to hear about federal help.”
Oliver said, “I’m sorry we put you in that position.”
He scanned all of them. “I assure you, we’ll find the perpetrators with our normal investigative team.”
Daisy said, “We understand. Thanks for checking.”
When Captain Marshall left, still perturbed, Oliver addressed all of them. “Let’s talk about how we’ll be safe going to work. I, for one, am not giving in to this kind of fear.”
“Let’s talk about what we have to do better,” Heath suggested.
“How do we do better when there’s been a murder?” Juliet was obviously skeptical.
Finn answered, “Jules, they caught the killer.”
“But Finn being beaten up, the explosion and now Oliver hurt so badly, we have to do more,” Heath put in.
Finn added, “We can’t have the collective swept by bomb specialists every day.”
“No.” Scarlet’s eyes sparkled. “But we could hire someone to do it. Seriously, we could. And while they’re at it, they’ll be checking each practice, so they’d see things like the barbell trap.”
Heath’s phone buzzed. “I have to take this.” He stepped away.
Finn said, “We have to dismiss the snake, Juliet.”
“I understand.”
Heath came back. “They found the person who set the explosion at my work. Will Kirkland’s guys were at the helm.”
Daisy sighed. “Could he possibly be the same one after us? We’re both medical professionals.”
“Who knows? He’s being questioned now.”
“Meanwhile,” Finn continued, “If we don’t rise above this, we’ll have to close the collective.”
Daisy sighed heavily. “It’ll bankrupt me. I poured all of my money into this place.”
“We’re not closing,” Oliver said.
“Okay.” Finn again. “Let’s talk about what kind of person we could hire for sweeping the collective every day.”
“I think Kirkland Security can help with that.” Heath again. “I’ll call him today. We’ll try to get someone by tomorrow so we only have to cancel one day’s sessions. I know we’ll each still lose hundreds of dollars but what choice do we have?”