by Morgan Henry
“What the hell, Bob?” she asked angrily, momentarily forgetting to be the good girl.
“Don’t you be all uppity with me,” he demanded, pushing her shoulder and sending her back into the wall again. “You’re the cause of my problems.”
“What do you mean?” Mary saw that he was unkempt again, or as unkempt as Bob got. His shirt was untucked and his slacks wrinkled, and there was a stain on one leg. He hadn’t shaved for a day or two, and he reeked of cheap booze. The stench was making her gag being this close to him.
“Why wouldn’t you just come back? There’s nothing here for you. Nowhere to go in this town.” He grabbed her arm and slammed the door behind him.
Mary struggled to get out of his hold, but his grip was too strong. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about, Bob. We’re done. I’m not going back. I told Mom that already, and I never, ever, said anything to you about returning. Give it up and sober up.”
Bob dragged her up the stairs to the apartment. “Your shit friends called today. They found out about everything. I’ll be fired, and it’s all because of you.”
Mary hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. She was getting worried though. This was not the Bob who had bored her to death for years. She didn’t even think he had liked her this much in the end.
He threw her on the couch, where she bounced once and managed to grab her cell without him noticing. She kept it as concealed as she could with him standing over her.
“Bob,” she said in her most reasonable tone of voice, “you need to tell me what’s going on. What friends called you?”
“That fucker Marcus. He knows,” Bob said in a voice between a snarl and a whine. “Do you have anything to drink?”
“There’s some vodka in the freezer, I think,” Mary replied. What the hell does Marcus know?
Sammy chose to peek into the living area as Bob was returning with the bottle.
“He’s alive,” Bob gasped.
“Of course he’s alive,” Mary responded, shooing him back toward the bedroom. She didn’t have to work hard. Sammy got a look at Bob, hissed at him, and left.
“Then who was the dead cat I put on your doorstep?” Bob queried.
“You put the cat on my step? Why the hell would you do that?” Mary shouted at him, all fears of confrontation forgotten in the anger over the cat.
“I thought it was Sammy, and I wanted you to know what happened to him. I found him on the side of the road,” Bob whined.
“You found a dead cat on the side of the road, thought it was Sammy, so you put him on my doorstep with a threatening note? How crazy are you?” she practically screamed at him. Another thought occurred to her with a wave of nausea. “Oh God, please tell me you didn’t run over the cat deliberately.”
“Jesus, Mary! I didn’t kill the cat! I found it a few streets over and thought it was Sammy. I thought the note would make you want to leave. That’s what it all was for. So you would come back. Why can’t you see that?” At the last question, Bob was back to yelling.
“All?” Mary asked quietly. “What did you do, Bob?”
“I wanted you back.”
“It was you—the tires, the notes, the cat. Oh my God! Did you have something to do with Karen’s store?” Mary felt a rock growing in her chest, pressing on her heart and lungs. “I thought you were in Toronto. There were witnesses.”
Bob was silent.
That was telling in itself.
“You paid someone to do it, didn’t you?” Mary half asked, half stated. “You worm. You are lower than low. Why would you think that trashing Karen’s store would have me running back to you?”
“I thought it would get you both back. You to me and your job, and Karen back doing something her parents could be proud of. Then we could all be a proper family. Not this small-town, ménage shit that you’re all into. You were respectable, Mary. Now you’ve dragged me down with you.”
Mary couldn’t believe Bob’s twisted version of reality. Was he so desperate to have a life that was so superficial, that looked good on the outside but was both hollow on the inside and filled with toxic gas?
“I haven’t committed crimes that will involve jail time,” she snapped before thinking.
“It’s your fault!” he shouted, clenching his hands into fists. “I would never have done any of it if you had just done what you were supposed to!”
One of his fists shot out and hit her in the left eye.
* * * *
Derek, Logan, and Karen were surprised to find the alley full of cars.
Marcus and Colin had arrived a second before they did. There was also a black Nissan in addition to Mary’s vehicle.
“What’s the party?” asked Karen, getting out of her own car.
Derek didn’t like it. He knew Marcus and Colin wouldn’t be there unless they knew something about Mary’s stalker. Suddenly he just had a really bad feeling about all of it.
He, Logan, and Karen walked up to join the two security professionals.
“Tell us,” he stated.
“Bob knew about the dead cat when no one had told him anything. He was here in Hardwick Bay when her tires were slashed. We finally found evidence linking Bob to the break-in at Karen’s store. We’re pretty sure Bob’s Mary’s stalker,” Colin said grimly. “That’s his car.” He gestured to the black Nissan.
“Shit! What’s he doing?” Logan started for the door to the apartment.
Marcus grabbed his arm. “We don’t know what’s going on up there. Look, Karen’s here, so she can let us in, and we can approach quietly and assess the situation.”
Derek was fuming as much as Logan, but he kept himself in check. “We go with you.”
There was no way Derek was being left behind when Mary was in danger. He might be done with her lies, but he didn’t want her hurt.
“Fine. Behind us.” Marcus’ word was final. He turned to Karen. “And you stay here.”
Karen opened her mouth to protest, but looking at Marcus’ face a little more closely, she wisely shut it.
They crept up the stairs. At first the words were muffled, but they became clearer as they got closer.
“You paid someone to do it, didn’t you? You worm. You are lower than low. Why would you think that trashing Karen’s store would have me running back to you?” That was Mary’s voice.
“I thought it would get you both back. You to me and your job, and Karen back doing something her parents could be proud of. Then we could all be a proper family. Not this small-town, ménage shit that you’re all into. You were respectable, Mary. Now you’ve dragged me down with you.” Bob’s voice.
“I haven’t committed crimes that will involve jail time.”
“It’s your fault! I would never have done any of it if you had just done what you were supposed to!”
Then there was the sound of flesh striking flesh and a thumping like a fall.
Logan flew past them all to burst into the apartment, Derek right behind him.
Derek saw Logan glance at Mary as he tackled Bob to the ground. They hit the chair on the way, Bob taking the brunt of the fall and giving a harsh scream.
Derek didn’t care. He knelt beside Mary, who was cupping the left side of her face.
“Did he hit your eye?” he asked. Shit! She couldn’t take much more trauma to her eyes.
Mary nodded. “It wasn’t really hard,” she said and swallowed. Her voice gained some strength on the next words. “He hits like a girl.”
“Mary, I should get you to the clinic to check out your eye. You really can’t take anymore trauma to that area.” Derek frowned at her.
“Just wait a minute.” Mary tried to shake off his arm and stand up.
She at least allowed him to help her a little.
She looked at Bob then at the rest of them. “He confessed about the tires and the cat and that he arranged for Karen’s store to be trashed. What now?”
“We all heard,” Colin confirmed. “The police are on their wa
y. It’s not looking good for his future as a lawyer, that’s for sure.”
Colin and Marcus corralled Bob and ushered him downstairs, allowing Karen to head up to the apartment.
Mary looked at Karen, and they hugged each other. Derek and Logan stepped back a little to give the two sisters some space.
“I’m so sorry!” Mary cried. “The wrecked store was all my fault! I can’t believe he would be such an ass.”
“Don’t you dare say it was your fault!” Karen was equally teary. “You didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t have you taking blame for something that you didn’t do. You helped clean up and helped the three of us get back together, and I don’t want you to leave!”
“I’m not leaving.” They hugged each other for a few minutes longer.
“Mary, we really need to check out your eye again,” Derek said softly.
“You’re sure you’re not leaving town?” Karen asked, not letting go of Mary. “You’re not going back to your job in the city?”
“No!” Mary exclaimed. “Why would you think that?”
There was an awkward silence in the apartment. No one would look at Mary.
“Seriously, what the hell is going on?” Mary’s voice deepened in her irritation.
Derek knew his time had come. “I spoke to your mother and saw the emails of yours, Mary. Your mother forwarded them. We know that you’re still employed, haven’t sold your condo, and are planning on going back and appeasing your parents.”
Chapter 25
All the oxygen in the room suddenly seemed to disappear, and Mary had to break Karen’s hold to sit down.
They had read her private email. They had read the false crap she’d sent to her Mom. She wasn’t sure what to be more upset about—the snooping, her mother’s manipulation, or how they had obtained the damning information.
“I can explain,” she said, and her voice sounded wimpy and sad to her own ears.
“Let’s just get your eyes checked first.” Derek’s leaden voice was soft, but it sounded so loud in the silence.
Mary didn’t answer, just stood and headed down the stairs and to Derek’s office.
A few minutes later, it occurred to her that sitting in Derek’s chair was turning out to be a far too frequent occurrence for someone who didn’t wear glasses. She supposed she should get used to it since she was going to have to have her retina checked frequently for the rest of her life.
She obeyed his commands to “look up, look right” and so on. Logan hovered in his customary spot on the counter as Derek worked in the dark room. Finally he seemed satisfied.
“Everything looks okay, thank God. I didn’t want you to have to go through a repair again.” He managed to give her a half-smile but then sobered, as though he realized what he had done.
“Thank you,” Mary said softly. She decided to confront the large gray mammal in the room. “So this was why you turned so cold?”
“Yes,” Logan stated starkly.
“Can we, maybe, go to Karen’s and I’ll explain? Or try to?” Mary figured she should tell her sister the truth as well, and she didn’t want to go through it all twice.
“Does it matter? You lied to us, and I have big problems with that.” Derek wasn’t looking at her as he put his instruments away.
“You’re right. I lied about some things, but not everything. I have to tell Karen anyway, and I, well, I’m begging you to let me tell you the whole story.” Mary hadn’t gotten out of the chair. She still sat slumped in its oversized curve.
“Okay,” answered Logan. “We’ll come. We will,” he added, directing it to Derek, who turned to his brother, clearly intending to protest.
But first, they had to give their statements to the police. The officers had come to Derek’s office and waited in his waiting room for Derek to be done with her eyes. The officers were kind and efficient, but they weren’t able to give her any idea on what might happen to Bob. It would be up to the Crown.
It was a tense drive to Karen’s in the truck. Thank goodness it was short.
When they walked in the back door, Karen came rushing over. “Is your eye okay?”
“Derek says it’s fine. But I have to talk to you. Can we sit and I’ll tell you all of it?” Mary was barely inside the door from the mudroom, and Derek and Logan were still there.
“Yeah, please. I know there’s got to be more to this thing.” Karen went and started a pot of coffee.
Mary was humbled and so grateful for Karen’s support. After all their years of estrangement, her sister was still willing to believe the good in her. Mary thought she didn’t deserve such kindness.
They sat around the kitchen table. Allan and Zander joined them, surrounding Karen. They were her fortress, protecting her against all comers. Mary wished Derek and Logan had surrounded her like that, but they had distanced themselves from her, sitting with arms folded to her left.
She couldn’t blame them. It sure looked as though she had played them false. It didn’t matter what her intentions had been. She hadn’t told them the truth out of fear, and now she was paying.
She started with the story about LeeAnn threatening Karen’s marriage and how she had bought herself some time with the email. She told them about consulting Eric and his words on the subject.
“So, you’re free. Mom can’t touch you, however much she might like to. Hopefully, she backs away now.” Mary clasped her coffee cup like an anchor.
“You would have gone back to save me, wouldn’t you?” asked Karen softly.
“Well, that was the theoretical plan, but I’m glad I didn’t have to make the choice.” Mary hoped she would have had the courage to save her sister.
She took a deep breath. “As for the rest, you’re right. I didn’t tell the truth. I said I’d left my job and everyone assumed I’d quit, and I didn’t correct them. I was scared I wouldn’t find anything here and would have to go back, so I was hedging my bets. Same goes for the condo. If I couldn’t have stayed here, I wanted a home to return to, even if it wasn’t what I wanted long term. I wasn’t brave enough to let it all go, just in case. I never intended to marry Bob, though. Breaking it off with him was final. And I know I need to break it off with Mom and Dad for good. I think I can now that you’re safe.” She nodded at Karen.
“I can’t deny it seems so wrong to turn my back on our parents,” Mary continued. “I’ve spent my whole life pleasing them and obeying them it feels really weird not to consider what they would say every time I make a decision.”
“I understand,” Karen reached over to take her hand. “I know what it was like growing up. I know you’ve spent your whole existence trying not to make waves in the family and with your friends. You just go along and try to make everyone happy. I can see how you would just go along with our assumption that you had chucked it all because we wanted you here with us permanently so badly.”
Allan spoke up. “It’s okay to take time to make sure everything is okay for you though. We would have understood your need to find a job here before you left everything that gave you stability behind.”
Zander was nodding, but Derek and Logan still sat like stones. Had anything she said made a difference to them?
“Andrew and I have formed a partnership. He has more clients than he can handle, and there are more businesses here in town looking for someone local. I also have some contacts here that may help get me some more forensic accounting work, so I can stay and be employed. I will be putting my notice into the firm and putting the condo on the market. As long as I can stay in the apartment, that it.” She looked at Karen hopefully.
“Of course,” Karen waved her hand dismissively. “Does this mean I lose you as a chocolate shop employee?”
“Not quite yet, but soon, I think. We need to discuss some rent for the apartment, too.” Mary felt some of the weight lifted from her. She hadn’t thought Karen would evict her, but it was nice to know for sure.
“Later.” Karen looked at Derek and Logan. “I think the th
ree of you need some time to talk alone. Remember what I told you about the shouting.” She glared at Derek. Hard.
Zander took her hand as he stood. “We’re going up to our bedroom. Will you lock up when you leave, Mary?”
It was a subtle hint that they would be out of earshot for anything said between the three. “Sure.” Mary gave him a weak smile.
There was a silence that was far too long after the three homeowners left. Mary was pretty sure that this was the end.
“So were you hedging your bets with us too?” Derek’s voice was glacial.
“What?”
“You always said you didn’t want any commitment with us. Was that so if you went back to Toronto you could do so telling yourself that you never promised us anything? Was the stuff about Bob all bullshit?” The cold air just rolled off Derek. Mary was surprised there wasn’t frost on the kitchen windows.
“No!” Mary was upset they would think that, but she could see why. “I really thought that I wasn’t ready for another relationship. I was stupid and kind of overwhelmed by everything. I never intended to betray your trust, and it’s killing me that I ruined this.”
It was such a bittersweet moment. She had Karen’s forgiveness, a better life in her sights career-wise, but she had completely messed up the most loving relationship she suspected she would ever see. She would die old and alone. She was sure whatever plethora of cats she had would eat her dead body.
“I understand, or, at least, I think I do.” Logan unfolded his arms. “Most of this was a misunderstanding, but I can’t help but feel a little like you were using us.”
That hit Mary hard. Maybe because there was a little truth in it. She hadn’t intended it, but if she had gone back to her old job, that was exactly what she would have done.
“That was never my intent. I swear. I know it looks like that, and maybe it could have turned out that way, but it wouldn’t have been because I wanted it to. I’m sorry.” Mary felt she couldn’t possibly be sorry enough.
“I’m not perfect either, Mary,” Logan said. “I went along with Derek at first because you’re what he wanted, but I truly fell in love with you. But we’re a team, Mary. We don’t come separate, and I think we need to take some time.”
