Grave Misgivings

by Kristen Houghton

  “Yes! We’ve got Jennifer! Hurry! She’s alive but she needs care!”

  Within a few minutes Will and his emergency team surround me. “Help her. We found the grave and we got her out. She needs immediate medical care. Marc has given her preliminary care. We need more help. We...”

  “Who’s we?” Will looks at me standing there shaking with exhaustion and pain, my top half dressed only in a bra, and he takes off his jacket to cover me.

  “Marc and I. He saved her. See? Marc, tell…”

  I turn around to see Jennifer lying on the ground swaddled in two sweatshirts, the EMTs hurrying toward her. Marc Croft, aka the Eliminator, is nowhere in sight. “He was right here. He was here!” I turn looking in all directions but the foggy mist is all I see. The Eliminator has disappeared into thin air.

  Will is surveying the scene as the EMTs tend to a still-sobbing Jennifer. “There’s no one here, Cate.” He walks over to where Jennifer was buried and looks down into the hole at the shattered box. “How did you get her out of that grave?”

  I pull Will aside away from earshot of the medical personnel. “Would you believe me if I told you it was the hit man who helped me?”

  “The Eliminator? He was here? With you?” I nod. “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “I dropped the phone down a slope and it slid into a trench. I was afraid that if I went after it, I’d slide into that damn trench too. But, Will, the Eliminator knew just how to save her. He’s a survivalist; he knew where to look for the grave and what to do.”

  As Will takes out his police phone I grab his hand and stop him. “No, don’t. Don’t go after him. He saved her life. Edward tried to kill her, not this guy. It’s a long story but he did help me and she’s alive because of him. Let him go,” I sigh and steady myself by leaning on Will. “You’ll never find him anyway.”

  He thinks about it for a second then puts his phone away. “How badly are you hurt?”

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  “I’m not, not really, just jammed my knee. I’m fine.” The EMTs have put Jennifer on a stretcher and I limp over to her. “You’re going to be okay, Jenn. You’re safe now.” She grabs my hand and just stares at me. I don’t think she recognizes me but then her eyes seem to re-focus. In a barely audible voice she whispers, “Thank you, Cate.”

  One of the EMTs gives me an ice bandage to wrap around my knee. Other officers from Will’s detail arrive as Jennifer is being taken to where the helicopter waits and we watch her go off.

  “We’re going back by Harbor Patrol. They’re at the dock. I’ve already radioed them,” Will tells us. He consults a map on his phone, finds the coordinates and all of us slowly walk down to a small dock by the river’s edge.

  ๕๕๕

  Jennifer has been taken to the emergency trauma center at Westchester Medical. Will receives a call from the center and he puts the caller on speaker phone so I can hear. A Dr. Bishop alerts us that Jennifer is drifting in and out of consciousness, is severely dehydrated, and has been heavily drugged. “It’s a touch-and-go scenario, Detective,” says the doctor on the other end. “The next few hours are critical.” Will thanks him and asks to be kept updated. He also gives the doctor my number with instructions to call me with the same updates.

  Will drops me back near Jennifer’s condo where I am parked. A ticket is prominently displayed on my windshield for parking in a restricted area but Will grabs it and says he’ll take care of it. We smile at each other wearily, both of us remembering the ticket I got last year and how Will refused to fix it for me. I’m exhausted. “Want your jacket back? I have an old tennis shirt in my car.”

  “No, keep it on. You look cute.” Will winks at me. “See you tomorrow, babe. I’ve got to finish up the paperwork on this case at the precinct and then head over to the law library. It’s been an interesting day. Lunch tomorrow?” I nod. “Dessert later at your place?”

  “Sure.”

  “In bed?” That gets a laugh from me. He’ll never change and I’m glad. Ignoring the mud covering me, Will grabs me and pulls me tightly against him, kissing me long and hard, his tongue exploring the inside of my mouth. “Cate, my gutsy, reckless, Cate!” he murmurs with his face nuzzled against my neck. His hand gently cups my right breast and his tongue massages the hollow by my throat. What is it about danger that makes us want to have sex? Is it an affirmation that we’re still living, that we survived an ordeal?

  I hear a discreet cough and a voice saying, “Umm, excuse me. Detective?” It’s one of the cops who was with us on Hart Island. Will reluctantly breaks away from me, adjusts his pants, and becomes all business. “I, uh, checked any boats that may have come from the Hart Island area plus the city docking ports, sir, and there’s no viable info concerning the man PI Harlow was with on Hart Island. No one seems to have seen him either coming or going to the island. It’s almost as if he was a ghost.”

  I lean back against my Edge breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the last fifteen hours as well as the erotic kissing encounter with Will and say, “He is a ghost, officer, he’s the

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  White Death. You’ll never find out anything about him.” Then I climb shakily into my Ford Edge, say goodnight to Will and the young cop and drive back to my brownstone.

  ๕๕๕

  Three days later the Jennifer Brooks Warren case has been filed in the closed case folder on my computer. Because she insists on my doing so with all my cases, a paper copy has been given to Myrtle to be put in the locked filing cabinet. She once told me that she likes having back-up copies in case of a computer crash. “You’d lose all your work, honey!” she said. “Then what?”

  Edward Penn is at Riker’s Island and has retained a public defender as legal counsel. He’s claiming innocence of course. That’s not going to help him. My statement concerning what he said to me regarding his attempted murder of Jennifer, as well as his death threat to me, will pretty much seal his fate and he won’t be going anywhere for a long time. When she’s well enough, Jennifer will testify about being drugged and buried alive at Edward’s hands. I hope he rots in Hell.

  Jennifer is still hospitalized and I’m not sure that she knew who I was when I went to see her. The doctors told me that she will recover and that I saved her life. Of course I know better. She wouldn’t be alive if Marc Croft hadn’t been there. It’s a shame that he can’t take the credit for saving her. I hope he’s well.

  For some reason I don’t want to be alone right now and that’s especially true at night. I keep seeing that box in the ground and the way Jennifer looked when Marc Croft pulled her out. Will came over last night with some good Thai food and after we ate I asked him to sit with me on the couch and just hold me. We fell asleep in each other’s arms and I felt safe for awhile. Life and death are too closely tied to our jobs and we both know it. I hope Jennifer finds someone like Will someday, someone who will make her feel safe too.

  Chapter 25

  EVEN THOUGH I know that Myrtle is glad that Jennifer was found alive and will make a full physical recovery, I haven’t seen her smile in over a month. I am determined to find out what Harry has been up to and why his actions seem to be making Myrtle so miserable.

  Early in the afternoon, while Myrtle is busy with some Catherine Harlow, Private Investigations billing, I slip away from the office and go to see if Harry is home. When I get to their house, and even before I knock on the door, I can smell the delicious aroma of freshly baked goodies. Oh Harry! Can a man who makes such heavenly food concoctions really make a mess of a once-happy marriage? God, I hope not!

  “Catherine! What a nice surprise. Come into the kitchen and sit down. I have some nice fresh coffee and pastries. How’s everything going?”

  “Oh, you know, all work and so on. But I just finished a case so I thought I’d come and pay you a visit.” He smiles at me and pats my shoulder absentmindedly then walks over to his baker’s oven. I don’t know exactly how to begin so I take a deep breath and jump ri
ght in. “Harry? I’ve got to ask you…what in the hell is going on? Myrtle is getting sick over what she thinks you’re doing.”

  “Doing?” He smiles at me a bit distractedly. “Here, have a cannolo, I just made them. It has chocolate crème filling.”

  I take one, bite into the heavenly crème inside the hard shell and find that I have a hard time swallowing. I can’t even enjoy Harry’s gourmet pastry now.

  “It’s good, Harry, but listen to me. Myrtle’s worried about what you’re up to, whatever it is that you’re up to.”

  “Worried? Why would she be worried?”

  “You know, Harry! All the secrecy and all the late night goings-out. The phone calls to the, um, that woman. The bottle of Cialis you’re hiding in your underwear drawer. Your wife is sick over it.”

  Harry looks sick himself. “You mean...you mean she found out?! No, no this is terrible. I didn’t want her to find out like this.”

  “Well, of course not, I know that you...”

  “I was going to ask you to help me with this. You’re like a daughter to us. And it isn’t going to happen for another week yet anyway. I wanted to keep it a secret for as long as I could.”

  “I’ll help all I can, Harry. I love you and Myrtle, but maybe you should reconsider...”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise!”

  I simply stare at him. Who surprises their spouse with the announcement of an affair?

  “She’s got to come to the restaurant, Catherine. Regina Margherita? I want you to bring her there next Saturday. And I want her to meet this woman, Alex, who is responsible for all this. She’s made me feel so good about what I’m doing.”

  “Harry!”

  “What? This woman is fantastic and Myrtle will grow to love her!”

  I decide to let Harry know that I followed him and saw him with this woman. “Listen Harry, you should know that Will and I did a little surveillance on you. I did it for Myrtle. We know where you’ve been going. I haven’t given my findings to Myrtle yet because I wanted to see if I could talk some sense into you but what you’re doing is not a secret now. You’ve got to stop it, Harry!”

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  Harry walks over to the countertop by the stove and begins putting the cannoli into a cake box.

  “You spied on me? Really, Catherine, I wouldn’t have expected that of you. We’re family. You don’t really…” He sighs and shakes his head. “Anyway, I can’t stop, Catherine, I won’t stop. Alex is the best at this. This is something that I’ve been planning to do for so long. I need to do it. Besides Myrtle deserves this; she needs to know how much…”

  “Omigod Harry! Stop, stop, stop! Why do you want to hurt her? If you want to leave and be with this other woman, then just go. Don’t drag it out.”

  Harry stops what he’s doing and very calmly turns to me. “Leave who? What other woman are you talking about, Catherine?”

  “Alex!”

  “Alex? What about Alex?”

  “You’re leaving Myrtle for Alex!”

  “What?!” Harry stares at me as if I’ve gone crazy. “Catherine, oh my God, no, Catherine sit down, please. This is all wrong.”

  Sinking into a kitchen chair, I mutter, “You better believe it’s all wrong.”

  Harry sits across from me and removes his glasses so he can pass a shaky hand over his face. He takes a deep breath and faces me.

  “First things first, Catherine. I am not leaving Myrtle, not for anyone. I love her more than you can ever know. We’ve been together since we were twenty years old.”

  “So this Alex woman is just a middle-aged fling for you?” I say indignantly. “If that’s the case why do you want Myrtle to meet her?”

  “Catherine, stop jumping to conclusions and use your detective’s skills here. There was no fling, there never will be a fling for me. Think clearly and calculatingly, dear girl. What’s next week?”

  “June. What does that have to do with all this?”

  “What happens in June? What event do I celebrate every June 9 without fail? This year is even more special than ever.”

  I put my brain into PI mode and suddenly realize what I failed to see. I was worried about Myrtle who was certain that Harry was cheating on her and so I only saw the situation as a friend would. Of course. What an idiot I am to have failed to understand! June 9th is Myrtle’s sixty-fifth birthday, but I still fail to see what a birthday has to do with Harry and another woman.

  “All right, Myrtle’s birthday is coming. But who is this woman Alex? What’s she got to do with the birthday? And why did Will and I see you embrace this woman a little over a week ago outside of the Regina Margherita restaurant?”

  “I was simply thanking her. Alex Marsden is the city’s most elite party planner. She’s planned an elaborate dinner and birthday party for Myrtle. And it’s a beautiful semi-formal affair, you know how much Myrtle likes to get dressed up. Oh my God, Catherine! How could you think I would want any other woman besides my beautiful, intelligent Myrtle?!”

  Chastised I just sit there with nothing to say except that I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I put my hand on Harry’s and we sit there for a while both of us feeling a bit

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  foolish. Then Harry smiles wanly at me and says, “Catherine? Can you help me get Myrtle to her

  surprise party without spilling the beans?”

  “I don’t know. She’s pretty upset. She thinks you’re cheating on her.”

  “You’ll think of something, please do this for me, for Myrtle and me. I love her so much. Maybe your lovely friend Melissa can help.”

  I nod and ponder how the hell I’m going to get Myrtle to that party, even with Melissa’s help.

  ๕๕๕

  “I think you should meet Harry, Myrtle,” I say. Melissa and I have been talking to her for over an hour with no results. She’s obstinate as hell. Having called Melissa earlier and explained everything about the Harry-Myrtle business, she willingly came over late in the morning to offer her help. Her entrance into my office was like a breath of fresh, lilac-scented air.

  “What?! Meet him so he can tell me that he’s leaving me for another woman? No, I can’t. Absolutely not.” She shakes her head vehemently. This is going to be tough.

  “I’ll drive you there. I’ll be with you, Myrtle; you won’t be alone. But I seriously think you should be going to the restaurant. It’s a very upscale restaurant: women are dressed in cocktail dresses looking fantastic. Meet him, okay? Talk to him…and Myrtle? Wear something sexy. Make him see what a gorgeous woman you are.”

  “You want me to meet Harry and possibly this, this other woman, his mistress? Catherine, I thought you were on my side in this!”

  “Myrtle, I’m on both your sides. I love you and Harry and I think there’s a chance that you may be wrong about his cheating. Just come with me and see what Harry has to say. Let’s both get dressed up and look great, what do you say?”

  “I say absolutely not, Catherine! No!” She looks from me to Melissa defiantly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I noticed this morning that we’re out of yogurt; I have to restock.” And with that announcement, she grabs her bag and exits the open door. Melissa throws her hands up and says, “This is not going to be as easy as I’d thought!” We plot strategies until Myrtle comes back a half hour later.

  A pot of tea is waiting for Myrtle when she steps through the door after her self-imposed errand. Melissa helps Myrtle put away the yogurt and then settles her on the couch with a nice cup of tea. She leads the conversation away from Harry and engages in girl-talk. But when she looks at me and smiles, I know she’s going in for the win.

  “You know what you need, Myrtle? A girls’ day of beauty!” In a gentle and charming way she convinces Myrtle to get a massage and have her hair and nails done. “I know that always makes me feel better. I know the perfect place. Let’s do this together.” She takes out her phone and calls a salon she patronizes. Within a few minutes she has set up an appo
intment for both Myrtle and herself. “We’re in luck! Henri has an opening in half an hour. This will be fun! You need a day off and I’m sure Cate won’t mind, right, darling?” She looks at me pleadingly. She’s so convincing I just stare at her for a few minutes.

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  “Oh! Yes! Of course. Go! There’s nothing here I can’t handle by myself right now.”

  Myrtle isn’t completely convinced. “Oh, Melissa, I don’t know. There are things that need to be done here.”

  “I just made the appointment, Myrtle darling. It would be rude to cancel.”

  “Well...I guess it would be all right. Are you absolutely sure you don’t need me, Catherine? What about the rest of the billing?”

  “I’m sure you can do that tomorrow,” says Melissa taking charge and looking at me pointedly to agree.

  “Tomorrow is fine, no problem. Don’t worry, Myrtle, just go with Melissa and enjoy!”

  After a few more minutes of gentle persuasion, Myrtle says that maybe it will be good for her to be pampered. As they leave I hear Melissa suggesting a little shopping trip after their day at the salon. “I need your help picking out an outfit, Myrtle. You have excellent taste. Will you come with me to Bloomingdale’s?”

  ๕๕๕

  They return to the office very late in the afternoon looking fabulous and carrying several bags from Bloomingdale’s. Melissa has worked magic with Myrtle’s mood. Besides buying something for herself, Melissa has picked out a low-cut form-fitting dress, which will show off Myrtle’s ballroom dancing toned body beautifully. Myrtle changes in the bathroom and models the dress for us. She looks great!