CHAPTER THIRTY
“You made it!” said Marnie hugging Mitch.
“I told you, you’d never be alone,” he said kissing her. “We’re always going to be a team, babe. You, me, and those three little ones you’re carrying.”
“What do I do? Do I go out there?”
“Not yet,” said Christopher. “We’re going to out and greet our guest and make sure she’s not armed in any way. Alden was arrested this morning without incident.”
“He was?” she said feeling relieved.
“He didn’t put up a fight and actually apologized for what he did to you and what he did in general. I think he might have turned a new leaf. I’m not sure it’s going to help him ever be a doctor again but you never know.”
“It’s all so senseless. He is a good doctor, for the most part. It was the drugs and I suspect pressure from his mother, judging from what we’ve learned,” said Marnie.
“Well, there’s no doubt she’s an incredibly deceitful and devious woman. Her soon-to-be ex-husband can attest to that. We’ve petitioned the courts to exhume the bodies of her other husbands to prove that she killed them.”
“And the other women? The ones that were working with her?” she asked.
“They’ve all been arrested. They’re singing like canaries that Gloria was their leader and made all the decisions. They’ve even taken the stance that she pressured them, forcing them to act out of fear for their own lives.”
“Wow, that really will put the nail in her coffee,” said Marnie.
“She’s in the waiting room,” said Lena. “I told her I would see if you were available for her.”
“Who else is out there?” asked Mitch. Lena gave a big smile.
“Everyone.”
Gloria stared at the beautiful artwork on the walls of the waiting area. It was massive but then again, it appeared from the placards on the wall that they had every specialty known to man working in this small space.
“Someone definitely has money,” she whispered to herself, smiling with satisfaction. She was already on to the next adventure. But first, she needed to end Marnie St. John.
Looking around the room, she could see all walks of life. Several men sat in the corner with running gear on, probably someone injured themselves. Nice legs, though.
In another space were two men in dirty coveralls and boots. Most likely just farmers or some such horrible occupation. There were two men sitting together laughing, both in shorts and t-shirts. They appeared incredibly fit and healthy.
How horrible.
“Ma’am?” called Lena. Gloria jumped up to head to the desk.
“Yes, dear.”
“Ma’am, Dr. St. John is with a patient so it will be a few minutes. Do you want to wait?”
“Oh, of course. I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to see her.” She took her seat again and stared at the television playing some morning news program.
“In other news this morning, some unusual excitement in this little Alabama town. An emergency room doctor, fast becoming the town’s savior, was arrested on several charges…”
Gloria’s heart stopped and she quickly looked around the room. No. No, this can’t be happening. He was so stupid! He knew how to make this go away. Just kill the girl.
Well, if he couldn’t do it, she would. She stood and headed to the doors.
“Ma’am, you cannot go back there,” said Lena.
“Stop me,” she growled.
“Oh, we damn sure will,” said Mitch standing in front of her with Brooks.
“Get out of my way!”
“I don’t think so bitch. You’re not getting near my wife or anyone’s wife, or husband for that matter, ever again.”
“Wh-who are you?”
“They’re the men that showed me the light,” said Lawrence stepping out of the hallway. “Hello, Gloria. So glad you were predictable.”
“Lawrence. Lawrence, darling this is all a mistake. It’s that woman! That woman calling herself a doctor! She’s, she’s,” she stammered.
“She’s my wife and the mother of our children,” said Mitch. “And you will never get near her.”
Marnie walked out of the back with Angel on one side of her, Patrick on the other. She stared at Gloria. No fear. No loathing.
“You. You ruined my son!”
“Your son ruined himself because of you. Everything he became, is because of you. Your desire for the drugs, you desire to ruin your husbands, to kill them. All of it was you. You’re a horrible, deceptive, callus woman. No man deserves to have a mother like you, or a wife.”
“You’re going to die,” she sneered. Piper was suddenly hovering over the woman, along with several others. “Get away from me you !”
“?” smiled Piper. “I’d be proud to be called such a warrior. I’m going to show you what truly strong women can do.”
Piper ripped the bag from her shoulder, handing it to Jill. She searched the bag, setting two syringes on the counter, three pill bottles, a knife, and a small handgun.
“Those are mine!”
“Thank you for that admission,” smirked Mitch. “It will make the arrest so much easier.”
Before she could say another word, she was in handcuffs and taken out of the building.
“Is it over?” asked Marnie.
“Almost. She’ll be formally charged, held without bail, and eventually go to trial. Depending on what we can find with the examination of the other husbands, she may face multiple counts of murder,” said Mitch.
“But she won’t get near you,” said Christopher. “We’ll make sure of that.”
“So, I can go back to work, as usual?” she asked.
“Well,” said Layla. “We will welcome you back on limited duty until the babies are born. For your safety and theirs.”
“I can handle that,” she smiled. “Right now, I’m terribly hungry.”
“Well,” grinned Ambry, “that’s a good thing. I recommend a good hearty breakfast, daddy.” Mitch smiled, shaking his head as tears filled his eyes.
“Hey. Hey, Mitch, was that scary?” asked Marnie.
“Scary? Baby, no. It was a fucking dream come true. You, these babies, my family. We did what we do best. We took care of one another, saved you and the babies. Probably saved some other poor bastard from some horrible fate.”
“You saved this poor bastard,” smirked Lawrence. “I can’t thank you all enough. We’re going to head back home today since they’re both in custody. We’ve all got some thinking to do and thanks to your staff, we’ve been connected to some great counselors in our area.”
“We wish you the best of luck, Lawrence. Let us know how you’re all doing,” said Mitch. The man waved as he left the building, headed back to New Orleans to get his friends.
“With any luck they’ll get over this and be able to move on,” said Marnie.
“It’s going to take some time,” said Ashley. “We’ve been talking to them all. There’s a lot of guilt and shame with what they went through. It’s not theirs to own but it’s hard to tell such successful men that they failed.”
“They’ll be okay,” said Marnie. “I just know it.”
“Okay, everyone. Food!”