The First Cut (Terrence Reid Mystery Series Book 2)

by Mary Birk

  “We’ll never get out of bed if you keep doing things like that.”

  “Get dressed, then, my beautiful wife, before I can’t stop myself.”

  Anne stood up and she suddenly looked sick. Her face was pale and there was a bead of moisture above her lip. Instantly, worry filled him. “What is it, girl? Are you ill? You look a bit off.”

  She shook her head but hurried to the lavatory. “No, I’m fine. I’ll just go wash up.”

  He let his eyes follow her, pushing away the thought of the visit he would make to DC Parson’s family that afternoon. Time enough for that later. For now, he could be happy.

  Chapter 13

  ANNE QUICKLY closed the door of the bathroom, flipped on the fan, turned the taps on full bore, and threw up as quietly as she could manage.

  When her stomach was completely empty, she slumped to the floor and sat with her face in her hands. Her face still felt clammy, but at least the nausea was gone. Momentarily, anyway. How long did morning sickness go on, she wondered.

  She had wanted to tell him, knew she had to, but she just couldn’t. He looked at her with so much love. He’d bought them a house. Oh, God, a house with rooms for children. His children. He was going to be so crushed, so angry, and what if she lost him forever this time? She knew she couldn’t avoid telling him much longer, and when she did, he would know instantly that there was a good chance the baby wasn’t his.

  She washed her face and brushed her teeth. Better, but the smell of her sickness still hung over the room. Cranking open the window to let in fresh air, she tried to think what to do. He had a right to know, and it wasn’t fair to let him think things were okay when they weren’t. But she’d missed him so much. She needed time with him.

  A knock on the door startled her.

  She cleared her throat. “Yes?”

  “Are you all right?” Terrence’s voice was full of concern.

  She drew in a deep breath, put a smile on her face, and called out. “Fine. I’m just going to take a quick bath and get ready to go.”

  “Okay if I come in?”

  Her eyes assessed the room quickly for any signs she’d been throwing up. Seeing nothing, she opened the door. “Of course.”

  He gave an apologetic grin. “I’d make breakfast but I haven’t any food. I can run down to a shop and get something. What do you want?”

  She wrinkled her nose before she could stop herself, and he misinterpreted her distaste at the thought of food for disapproval.

  “Hey, I didn’t know you were coming.”

  Arching her eyebrows, she covered her gaffe. “I’m not hungry yet, but if you don’t have food here, you probably haven’t been eating properly.”

  He leaned in to kiss her. “I eat fine. Just not here.”

  She met his lips, kept hers closed. If he tasted her mouth, even though she’d brushed her teeth, she was afraid he’d be able to tell she’d been sick. “Liar. You’ve lost weight.”

  “I’ve been busy.” He kissed her again. “We’ll get something to eat on the way.” He pulled her to him, but she playfully pushed at his chest.

  “Bath.”

  He laughed and closed the door.

  She turned on the taps to fill the bathtub, sat on the edge and looked around. The bathroom was spacious, but like everything else in the flat, austere. Even though she knew he’d bought the place years ago, it still looked like a model flat. Furnished but not lived in. Except for the crucifixes in every room, the small holy water fonts by the front door and near the light switch in the master bedroom, and his books. And the photos of her that occupied every available surface. She bit the side of her forefinger to keep from crying.

  Later, she would tell him. Just for today she would pretend everything was okay. She would cherish every second of this time with him. When he knew, she was afraid, no, she was sure, everything would change. He wouldn’t be able to handle the thought of her carrying another man’s child.

  Tonight. She would tell him tonight. She would let herself have one more day with him before crashing their world down around them.

  Chapter 14

  REID’S MOBILE rang just as Anne and he were ready to leave. He frowned, then looked at Anne to reassure her. “I need to take this, but don’t go anywhere and don’t worry. I’m taking the morning off even if it’s the Lord God himself.”

  “Answer your phone. I’ll wait.” Anne smiled and sat down on the edge of the sofa nearest the door. She wore long brown leather boots over close-fitting jeans that hugged her long legs, and she’d wrapped a soft camel colored shawl kind of thing over a silk shirt and thin brown cashmere sweater. He shook his head, still incredulous that this beautiful creature was really his.

  “You look amazing.”

  She pointed to his mobile. “Answer your phone.”

  Reid hit the talk button. The voice of the Medical Examiner, Tessa Marcon, sounded tired. She would have had to work through the night to be finished with a report by now.

  “Superintendent, I have your rush on Richard Ramsey.”

  “Much appreciated. Results?”

  “No surprise. Confirmed what you and I both thought preliminarily. He was stabbed to death—a narrow, sharp blade right into the heart. Not so much a blade, perhaps, but a sharp pointed object. You suggested an ice pick, but I believe this weapon would have had to have been thinner and sharper than that. The train messed up his body, but he was dead already when it hit him. There could have been other, lesser, injuries, but frankly, it’s almost impossible to pick them out with the body as impacted as it was. He could have been bashed about a bit before he was killed, but I don’t think so and I can’t tell you that for certain.”

  “Tox screen?”

  “Shows evidence of alphaprozam, an anti-anxiety drug, blood pressure and cholesterol medicine and, here’s a bit of a surprise considering where he was found, sildenafil citrate, commonly known as Viagra.”

  “A surprise because?”

  “Generally, you don’t take a drug like that until you’re planning to have sex.”

  Reid thought about that, remembered the condom. “That actually makes sense considering some of the other evidence. So he was either getting ready for or getting back from a woman, then. How long does Viagra stay in the blood?”

  Tessa puffed out a breath of exasperation. “Not necessarily a woman, Superintendent. Could have been another man.”

  “Ah, yes. Any signs he’d had sex with a man in the past?”

  He glanced at Anne who arched her eyes at him. He shrugged.

  On the other end of the line, there was a pause as Tessa considered his question. Then she said, “Actually, no, so you’re probably right. No anal fissures or characteristic stretching. I’d say no. Viagra lasts about four hours, but we can see traces of it for a short time after that. From the level we found in his body, it looks like he took it no more than an hour before he died.”

  “Could you tell if he’d had sex recently?”

  “He hadn’t ejaculated recently, so whatever he was getting ready for, didn’t happen.”

  “Thanks. Send the report to me only. Keep the tox results quiet. Don’t let it get about over there in your shop.”

  “In the vault.”

  “Thanks. Would you do me a favor and take charge of the autopsy of DC Darrin Parsons?”

  “Hit and run, right?”

  “That’s what I’ve been told.”

  “No problem.”

  “Later, then.”

  Reid briefly told Anne about his case as they drove, not mentioning the connection to the Heidelberg university bombing because of the confidential nature of the information, but gave her a general idea of what was keeping him occupied, especially because the Ramseys had attended the party Reid’s parents had given for Anne and him at Dunbaryn after they were married. She’d actually met the family, he reminded her.

  Her face stilled as she tried to remember. “Can’t picture them right now. There were so many people there.”r />
  “There were indeed.”

  “So you’re investigating a murder? But I thought your task force was working on something involving financial crimes right now.”

  He was pleased that she’d remembered. “Aye, but we think this might be related.” He went on with what little he felt comfortable sharing with her about the investigation, but not mentioning any names.

  She listened attentively. For the first time he thought about the fact that Anne would really be a policeman’s wife now. And she would be in his bed every night. Just the thought of that made him feel like he’d received a reprieve from some undetermined life sentence. Another thought, not as welcome, came into his head, and he knew he needed to warn her. He put his hand on her leg.

  “Anne, Darby will be in town soon. She may show up at the flat. I didn’t know you’d be here, so I told her she could stay here a night or two.”

  She made a face, dismayed. “Oh, no.”

  He ran his hand along her leg, trying to reassure her. “If she makes herself disagreeable, I’ll see that she leaves. Better yet, when she calls to let me know she’s arrived, I’ll ask her to get a hotel.”

  “I don’t want you to do that because of me. She’s your sister.”

  “You’re my wife.”

  “She can stay with us for a few days. I’ll try really hard with her. Maybe she’s mellowed about me.” She looked up at him with those lovely blue eyes that always made him want to give her a small country.

  Reid smiled back. “Maybe so.” He knew his sister had not mellowed one bit, but Darby would behave, or he would send her packing. For him, Anne came first; his sister would have to accept that and be civil to his wife. “Anyway, I’m sorry. I thought I was supposed to be going to California to help you with the move.”

  “I know.”

  “When are your things coming? Did your sisters help you pack your condo?”

  Anne waved her hand noncommittally. “Let’s not talk about that right now. I have enough with me for a while.”

  “One suitcase?” He knew she was an efficient packer, but she wasn’t like him. She needed her “things” around her to feel at home, as she always told him: her knickknacks, her books, her endless collection of boots, shoes, and hats, her gardening tools, her drawing materials, her cookery gadgets.

  “One very big suitcase, Terrence.”

  He made a face to let her know she hadn’t fooled him. “If you like the house, we’ll have the rest of your things shipped right to it. No point in moving things twice.”

  “I love you, Terrence.” She leaned against his shoulder, put her hand on his leg, and he thought everything they’d gone through had been worth it.

  They drove up to large black iron gates that led to a driveway that split off into two directions: one part wrapped around the side of the house to a garage, the other part became a circular driveway in front of the house. Reid pushed a remote control. The gates opened and he guided the car through them to the front of the house, hitting the remote control to close the gates behind them. He parked the car, then leaned over and kissed her. “We’re home.”

  She unfastened her seatbelt and wrapped her arms around him, holding on to him so tightly that a dark cloud of unnamed worry suddenly spun around him. His mind quickly paged through possible causes. Not Grainger, or she wouldn’t have been with him like she had. Not her family, she’d told him they were all fine. Not the house, she seemed to like the idea. Not the sex, no, definitely not the sex, it had been unbelievable. He dismissed the worry as unfounded, and kissed her again.

  Chapter 15

  THE HOUSE was perfect. Large open rooms, airy and light, greeted her as soon as they entered.

  Spying French doors at the far end of the living room, Anne immediately headed in that direction. A house was one thing, but the yard, or garden as they called it here, was to her, the main thing.

  Terrence, apparently tuned in to the purpose of her detour, followed in her wake and moved in front of her to unlock and open the glass doors. Anne looked around the garden and its potential sprang to life in her mind, first as a set of drawings, then as a finished landscape. The property was completely fenced in with aged gray brick walls that caused additional issues with blocking out what she suspected was, based on what she knew of Glasgow weather, limited sunlight in the first place. Mentally, she refurbished the stone and glass greenhouse, added trees in a bare spot, and calculated where to move the rose garden so the plants would get more sun.

  She spotted an extensive perennial garden border around the entire backyard—back garden, she mentally corrected herself. Recently, in anticipation of her next project, she’d immersed herself in the work of the garden designer Russell Page and his principles of order and simplicity. Her own personal tastes tended more toward a voluptuous garden display, but she saw the wisdom of wedding the two schools of design. A restrained voluptuous garden display, then.

  A clock rung out, presumably from a nearby church. Noon. Terrence would find a quiet spot and disappear for a little while, she knew. At noon he always prayed the Angelus. But then he’d come back, always calmer, always happier. She turned around, and he was gone, just as she’d expected.

  Her attention went back to the garden. An inviting spot that would be perfect for alfresco dining sat between some boxwood shrubbery and an impressive lavender hedge. Pea gravel for the base, she decided. What color for the shade umbrella?

  She must have been lost in thought there for a quarter of an hour when she heard Terrence clear his throat. “Do you want to see the house, Anne? Or would you be happy with a tent out here? I could have saved a lot of money if I’d known you wouldn’t require an actual house. Perhaps just a camping spot would do?”

  She turned and smiled.

  He raised his eyebrows in a question. “I take it you like the back garden?”

  “It needs some work, but yes, it’s wonderful.”

  “And the house?”

  She glanced up at the back view of the house. It looked to be three stories. The upper portion of the walls were stucco, but the lower portion was a soft gray stone. “It looks beautiful. Big, but homey.”

  “Don’t you want to see inside? The rooms? The kitchen? The baths?”

  She laughed. “Of course I do. And the front yard, I mean, front garden.”

  “The house first.” He took her hand and playfully pulled her along.

  Terrence seemed so happy to be showing her around, explaining where her studio would be, where his office would be, the kitchen. There were rooms for staff to help with the house, he said, and with the children.

  He smiled when he told her that part, but rushed to reassure her again. “No hurry for the children, though. Now that I have time to consider, and having been apart from you so much, I don’t mind having some time with you all to myself.”

  Anne held his hand and smiled, but inside she was a whirling mass of worry. She did not want this time to end, did not want to shatter everything he had planned for them. But she knew that as soon as she told him about the baby, the sweet, almost boyish pleasure he was showing about finally beginning their life together would be gone.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so playful—no, actually, she could. He had been like this on their honeymoon and, she remembered, when they’d reconciled in Bodega Bay she’d had a brief glimpse of this more carefree side of Terrence again. He was such a self-contained man; this joyfulness was something she had not seen in him when they first met and married. He had pursued her, courted her, and married her with a determined single-mindedness that was almost scary in its intensity. The lightheartedness she saw in him now had to be coming from his relief that they had rescued their marriage from almost certain destruction. Her news would almost certainly send them hurtling back against those awful rocks again. She felt guilty letting him go on being happy, but also greedy to feel his joy in her for as long as she could.

  He was businesslike now. “We’ll get a designer in
. You’ll want to choose the furnishings, the wall colors, all that. I chose the house, but everything else is up to you. I want you to make it your—and our—home. I didn’t want to do any of that without you. I’ve the name of a designer who comes highly recommended. A woman who is used to dealing with homes like this. I’ve seen some homes she’s designed and liked them. I think you will, too.”

  She said nothing, and he looked abashed.

  “I’ve done it again, haven’t I, girl? Made the decisions? If you don’t like her, we’ll find someone you like.”

  Anne smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’m sure she’s wonderful.” She wanted so much to do as he was saying: furnish their house, make it their home. Her heart hurt at the thought of telling him, of spoiling all of this for him and for her—for them. There was little chance he would want her to stay with him when he knew. She wished the news about the baby could be something joyful for him, but realistically, if the baby was Andrew’s, she knew Terrence would be devastated, and her marriage would be over. But she couldn’t wish her baby didn’t exist; the child was already so real to her. Don’t worry, little one. I love you.

  He took her hand and pulled her down the hall upstairs, opening double doors into a large bedroom with a fireplace. “This is our bedroom.”

  One more day. She’d wait one more day to tell him. Maybe how we are together today will make it easier for him to stay with me no matter what, she thought. She took his hand and pulled him close and kissed him with everything she felt for him.

  As their lips separated, he murmured to her, letting his mouth trail down her neck and his hand run up and down her back. “Lassie, don’t be kissing me like that unless you mean to do something about it.” He pressed himself against her and she felt him ready for her.

  “Well, it is the bedroom.”

  “True, so true.” He ran his hand under her silk top, unfastening her bra, and then traveling across her breasts. He unzipped her jeans and slid his hand down to her, sighing. “Ah, girl, you’re ready. Ready again. I love you so much.”