by Nina Pierce
“No!”
“He doesn’t need that!”
Both daughters spoke at the same time.
“Now, girls. Your mother is having a difficult time with this decision.” Even though the doctor didn’t move, there seemed to be an air of protectiveness where their mother was concerned. “We’ve been talking about it this morning, and I think you should listen to the voice of reason.”
“And who’s voice would that be, Doc McCarty?” Meghan couldn’t keep the anger at bay. How dare this man disrupt their family and upset their mother? Her father would be fine. This man might be a doctor, but he knew nothing of how the Tillings worked as a unit.
Alice patted his hand. “Gordon’s only worried about me and my health.”
“And the best care for your father,” the doctor added.
“Mum, but we’re here to help,” Julie said. “We can come more often if you need.”
“And if that’s not enough, we’ll just hire nurses to be here with you.” Meghan sat forward in the chair, feeling like the suggestion had come out of nowhere. Taking care of their father had been stressful on their mother, but this seemed too drastic a measure.
“Well, Alice, I think you need family time to talk this over.” Doc McCarty stood as if dismissing all their arguments. He smoothed his palms over his dress pants and picked at a piece of lint on his suit jacket. “This isn’t a decision you can make right away.”
Alice stood and walked around the coffee table strewn with tea cups and partially eaten donuts. “I have the list of numbers and the brochures you brought,” she said, pulling Doc’s coat from the front closet next to the piano. Alice handed it to him, her voice catching in her throat. “The girls and I will certainly think about everything.”
“Rest isn’t going to be enough after this last attack, Alice. John simply needs more care than you can provide.” The disapproving smile he flashed Meghan and Julie was unmistakable.
Alice cleared her throat. “Yes, well, the girls are my saving grace, Gordon. You know that.” She laid a reassuring hand on Julie’s arm. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without them all these months. They’ve been the solid rock supporting me.”
“You’re certainly blessed with a wonderful family, Alice.” Doc McCarty’s voice cracked as he wrapped a woolen scarf around the emotion clogging his throat. Obviously, he was still wounded from his son’s murder. Meghan couldn’t imagine going through life without any family as Doc McCarty had to do now.
“Just tell me you’ll think about it. It would be best for all concerned.” He leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Alice’s cheek. “He’s my friend too. I only want what’s best for all involved.” And with that he left.
Alice bent and began gathering dishes. Meghan and Julie stood and helped.
“You can’t honestly be thinking this is the right thing for Daddy, can you, Mum?” Meghan’s voice shook. She didn’t want to think that her father wouldn’t pull through this time.
Her mother stood, tears filling her eyes. “Meghan, it was only a suggestion.” A soft sob escaped. “I don’t know why we can’t help him. He’s just getting so sick.” Meghan set down the cups and wrapped her mother protectively in her arms. “I can’t lose him. I just can’t.”
The kitchen phone rang, and Julie slipped out to answer it.
“Daddy’s a strong man. It’s just not his time. I feel it,” Meghan said quietly.
“Oh, I want to believe you’re right. But he just isn’t getting any better.”
Julie came back in the room, her face ashen. “That was the doctor from Bangor Hospital. She needs to see us all right away.”
* * * *
The ride to the hospital had been excruciatingly long. Though Julie had broken every speed limit between Delmont and Bangor, the miles ticked slowly by. None of them had spoken, each imagining what grave news the doctors would deliver upon their arrival.
Now Meghan stood against the wall, huddled next to Peter, grateful to have his arm holding her up. The pain behind her eyes had quieted to a dull ache, but her stomach still churned unpleasantly. Whether it was from the exhaust of the car or nervous concern, she couldn’t be sure.
Deirdre leaned on the window by the door, her heavy work boot poised behind her on the wall. Nervously picking her nails, she stared at Julie. Being the oldest, her sister stood next to their mother, her arm around the woman’s waist, both comfort and support. Alice Tilling looked small and frail hunched over the hospital bed talking quietly to her husband.
No one had any idea why they had been summoned—least of all her father.
“Oh, good, you’re all here.” The doctor’s white lab coat fluttered behind her as she swooped into the room, pausing at the foot of the bed to retrieve the chart before taking up position on the far side of the bed. “Good morning, John. I’m Dr. Dixon, Chief of Staff here at Bangor Hospital.” She opened the chart and flipped casually through the pages, the steady beat of the machinery counting the mounting seconds of tension. On a heavy sigh, she closed it and smiled at the family, the expression full of compassion. “The good news is we’ve found the major root of Mr. Tilling’s illness.” She pushed her glasses up onto her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes as if gathering her thoughts.
She cleared her throat, the sound tightening the knot of dread weighing in Meghan’s stomach. Her gaze swept over the family. “There’s no easy way to say this except straight out. We believe Mr. Tilling is being poisoned.”
The sharp inhale of disbelief echoed in the small room.
“You can’t be serious.” Deirdre pushed off the wall, stalking to the bed and staring over at the doctor. “Who the hell—”
“Don’t misunderstand.” Dr. Dixon waved her well-manicured nails in the air, halting further confusion. “We don’t believe it was intentional.” She laid a hand on John’s arm and looked into the man’s eyes, concern etched in the deep furrow of her brow. “Do you have a gun collection?”
Her father nodded.
“Do you clean and polish them?”
Her father’s head moved slowly up and down again.
Dr. Dixon straightened and squeezed John’s shoulder. “It appears you’ve been poisoning yourself slowly with selenium, Mr. Tilling. It’s a compound in the gun bluing solution. It’s similar to arsenic in that it compounds over time. We’ve tested your hair and urine, and it’s there. The exhaustion and nausea are due to the poison. We think the stress of it on your system has affected your heart.”
Alice stood tall. Her strength amazed Meghan. “So now what do we do?”
One corner of the doctor’s mouth lifted, but there was only sadness in the smile. “That’s the difficult thing. There is no antidote. I’m sorry.” She paused for a moment. “But we’re very hopeful we’ve caught it in plenty of time. We’ll increase his fluids and calcium intake. We need to flush the poison from his system as quickly as possible.” She met the glazed stare of worry on each person in the room before turning back to their father. “We’ll need to do some additional gastrointestinal tests to check for permanent damage, but we have every reason to believe you’ll make a full recovery, Mr. Tilling. Of course we’ll have a cardiologist watching your heart, but we believe clearing it out of your system will take the stress off your heart.”
Meghan fell against Peter, relief stinging her eyes. All the months of worry and fear had culminated in this moment. There would be no long-term facility, no more late-night vigils in the hospital. Finally, it was over.
“I’ll call Dr. McCarty and let him know,” Dr. Dixon said. “If everything goes as hoped, we’ll be able to transfer you back to the Delmont hospital in a week or two where you can complete your recovery, Mr. Tilling.” She smiled, and this time hope sparked in her eyes. “I understand Gordon is a friend of the family. I’m sure you’ll be in good hands with him.”
Chapter 10
“I’m worried about you, Meggie.” Peter poured two more cups of coffee and sat down next to
his fiancée at the kitchenette. She’d called in her part time help and skipped opening the shop for the second day in a row. Between the garage door and her father, he wasn’t sure he wanted his fiancée out of his site.
“First the cooler. Now the garage door.” Concern squeezed his heart. He gathered her in his arms, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume. “I think your head’s been with your father in the hospital rather than focused on what you’re doing. I still can’t figure out how you locked yourself out of the house and your car.”
“I think you’re right. Carelessness plain and simple.” She smiled and cupped his cheek in her palm, the pad of her thumb brushing along his lips. “Too much worrying about other people and not enough paying attention to me.”
All he wanted was to hold her. Keep her safe from the world. He dipped his head, sucking her full bottom lip into his mouth, reveling in the familiar taste of her.
“Why don’t you let Chelsea stay at the shop all day today and you stay here and let me take care of you?” He tenderly scooped her hair behind her ear. “You must be exhausted after all you’ve been through. How about I run you a bath?”
Love sparked in the emerald depths of her eyes, and Peter thought he’d like to fall into them and simply drown. “I need more than snuggling,” she said shyly. “How about we try some of our new toys?
He lifted a brow. They’d sat at the office computer late last night, Meghan nestled in his lap as they surfed the Internet for sex toys. The nipple clamps and cock rings had titillated, but when she’d begun looking at floggers and bondage equipment, he’d taken her right there on the couch, hard and fast, satisfying both of them before settling back at the computer and placing an order. “They came already?”
“Of course not silly.” Meghan’s cheeks flushed. “But I did find the gift you left for me.” She jumped from the chair and scooted down the hall.
He hadn’t gotten her a gift.
He heard the snap of leather coming from the den.
“I just love it. I found it this morning under the front seat of my car when I retrieved the door opener.” She strode down the front hall, snapping the leather flogger against her hand. “Of course the whole getting locked in the garage thing put a damper on me mentioning it.”
Anger and fear collided hot and hard as the fuchsia straps flashed like blood in his vision. He willed his smile to stay in place. “You like it?” He reached out to take it from her, wondering if it would burn his flesh. First the blonde doctor in the hospital, now this. His life was falling apart.
“And you had it engraved for me.”
She flipped the handle, and he saw the letters MC etched into the handle.
“Meghan Claire.” She leaned over and grazed his chin with her teeth. “I think you should brand me with it. I’ve been awfully naughty.”
Peter had all he could do to hold himself together. This was not happening. He’d brought a stranger into their lives, and now he was beginning to wonder if all of Meghan’s accidents weren’t entirely Crystal’s doing.
“You know…” He kissed her gently and pushed from the table, carrying the flogger with him. Guilt burned a path up his throat, carrying bile with it. “As much as I’d love to spend the day with you, using this on you…” Like hell he did. “I forgot about a meeting at work. Things with your dad and…everything.”
Undeterred, she rubbed up against him, her hand seductively running down the front of his Dockers. “Oh, now, I think you have a few minutes to put me in my place.”
“I don’t.” Fear snapped the words out of his mouth.
Meghan stepped back as if she’d been slapped. “You don’t have to get angry about it, Peter. I just thought you wanted to.”
He pulled her to him, trying to soothe the hurt shadowing her eyes. “I do. You know I do. I can’t resist you. Just not now. Things are crazy at work.” He bent and kissed her. “Can I take a rain check for tonight?”
She inclined her head toward the leather flogger on the counter. “You promise to use that on me?”
No. He wanted to scream, but he forced a smile instead. “If it’s what you want.”
“What I’d really like if I can’t have you…” Meghan paused and batted her lashes flirtatiously, but Peter shook his head at her offer. “Is a ride to the shop. I just don’t want to deal with cars and garage door openers.” She shivered in his arms.
That suited him. He could see her safely to the work and home again. She couldn’t be in danger with customers coming in and out of the shop all day. “Since it’s on the way, I’d love to.” They slid into the coats they’d thrown over the back of the chairs when they’d come home from the hospital. Peter slipped the flogger beneath the beige wool when Meghan’s back was turned. It was going into some random dumpster in the city.
He didn’t think Crystal would harm Meghan, but why the hell had the Dominatrix left this calling card? Perhaps she intended to approach his fiancée about all that had transpired over the last few weeks. Peter had hoped he could simply walk away from it all. But had Crystal somehow crept into their lives without him knowing?
“Busy at the shop these days?” he asked, not really knowing how to get information from Meghan without arousing suspicion.
She shot him a curious look over her shoulder as she stepped into the chilled morning. “You know December’s crazy-busy. People coming and going all the time.”
He shrugged as he pulled the front door closed and checked the lock. “No, I know. But are you getting any new customers or anything?”
“No, just the same old same old.” Meghan paused on the brick walk and turned back to him, bumping her head with the heel of her hand. “That’s not true. An old classmate of yours came by last week looking to book a wedding. All this stuff going on with Daddy. I completely forgot to mention it to you.”
He swallowed hard, but it didn’t help ease the tension. “Oh, yeah?” The words came out as casually as he’d hoped. “Someone from the university?”
Meghan slid through the passenger door Peter held open. “No, high school or something. She said her name was…” Meghan paused in thought. “Her name was Sarah. Pretty lady,” Meghan continued. “She had the most incredible long, blonde hair.”
The reality of the danger he’d unknowingly brought into their lives slammed into him like a swift punch to the gut. Peter needed to find the crazy-assed woman and call her off right now. Apparently, all the research he’d thought would bring fulfillment in his life had led him down a very precarious path that now seemed to threaten the very core of his heart. “Steer clear of her, Meghan. She’s nothing but trouble.”
“Huh, she seemed really nice when we talked at the shop.”
“Trust me, in this case looks are deceiving.”
* * * *
Crystal had spent the afternoon making the final arrangements. Everything was set and finally things were falling into place. Things couldn’t be working out any better. One more day in Maine, then back to Boston for her usual weekend routine at the hotel.
The hospital was quiet in the late afternoon. Most patients napped, and families stepped out to get early dinners or run errands. Crystal hoped that was the case with John Tilling’s family. As she moved through the ACU, she reprimanded herself for coming up here. What she needed to do didn’t include John. Still, after he’d whispered so hopefully in her ear this morning, she’d grown quite fond of the father-figure.
Chancing one more look around, she slipped into his room and grabbed the chart.
The beep of the monitor reassuring the staff his heart was beating normally, put Crystal on edge. Each breath was measured with the whoosh of the oxygen. Two IV bags hung next to his bed, and she stepped up and checked the labels. Saline solution. Just as she expected.
