by Livia Grant
An accident. Her first thought went to her father. She hadn't talked to him in months. "An accident? Was it my father?"
"Honestly, ma'am, we're not sure. If you'd open the door, we have a few questions for you. Perhaps you could help us sort things out."
Cali took a deep breath and unlocked the front door. A blanket of dread surrounded her as she let the two officers into the foyer. The shorter, stockier man reached out his hand with a business card extended. "I'm Officer Jackson and this is my partner, Officer Stanton. If you don't mind me asking, who might you be?"
The question was unexpected. They were standing in her foyer. Surely they knew who she was. "I'm Calista Bennett."
She didn't miss the quick glance between the men before Officer Jackson spoke. "And who is Kevin Bennett to you, ma'am?"
"Is Kevin in some type of trouble officer?"
"Just answer the question, if you would, ma'am."
Cali's voice quavered in her reply. "Kevin is my husband, but he is out of town on business this week. He'll be back tomorrow afternoon if you need to speak with him. What is this about again?"
It was Officer Stanton who spoke. "Perhaps we could sit down before we answer your questions."
Panic had her heart pounding in her ears. "I don't want to sit down. I just want to know why you're here."
Officer Stanton's eyes filled with pity before he spoke. "I'm sorry to tell you this, Mrs. Bennett, but we believe your husband was in an accident a few hours ago." He stopped long enough to take a small notebook out of the front pocket of his bulletproof vest. Flipping the pages, he finally continued. "Does your husband own a silver 2013 Audi R8?"
Her answer was a whisper. "Yes. It was a graduation gift from his parents when he passed the bar." The truth was sinking in. Kevin had been in an accident. "Let me go change my clothes. What hospital did they take him to?" Only then did Cali realize he hadn't even shared what city he was in. "He is on a business trip. Where do I need to go to see him?"
The officers hesitate. "I'm sorry to inform you that your husband died from his injuries."
Cali would have collapsed to the floor if Officer Stanton hadn't caught her. He let her lean on him heavily as he steered her to the nearby living room. They sat on the closest love seat and he wrapped his arm around her as unconscious tears overflowed down her cheeks. Her mind reeled. There had to be a mistake.
"Where did this happen?"
"On Interstate 395 headed into the city. Do you know where he might have been heading?"
"No! I told you. He is out of town." Relief invaded. She turned hopeful eyes on the officer. "Someone must have stolen his car! It had to be someone else in the car. Let me phone him."
The pity in his eyes had grown stronger. "I'm sorry, but we are almost certain it was your husband driving. He had his identification on him and they were able to identify him at the scene from his driver's license photo. Of course, the coroner will make absolutely certain in the autopsy."
"Autopsy? Wait. I don't believe it. It can't be Kevin! I just talked to him a few hours ago. We're going to Rivers tomorrow night for dinner." Her voice had taken on a manic quality, as her tears increased.
"We normally don't recommend family members identify their loved ones when the bodies have been traumatized by high speed accidents, but we honestly would appreciate it if you could accompany us to the morgue."
He hesitated long enough that Officer Jackson completed the request. "I'm afraid your husband wasn't alone in the car at the time of the accident. His companion didn't have any identification in the vehicle that they were able to find on the scene. If you feel up to it, we could sure use your help in identifying the other victim of the accident."
Other victim. Accident. Cali's mind was reeling. It was hard for her to focus. Had he been trying to come home tonight after all? If so, why had he been going in the wrong direction? And who was in the car with him? The officers gave her time to mull the devastating news around long enough that she started to formulate her own suspicions.
"It was a woman?" She finally asked, although it came out as more of a statement.
"I'm afraid so, ma'am. We came here unsure if anyone would be here. We thought perhaps it had been you in the car with him. Is there anyone else you can think of that he might have been with around midnight?"
Cali knew. She just knew. Still, it didn't make it easier to say. "No one he should have been with, no."
"I know it will be difficult, but could you please help us identify the other victim? We'd like to notify her next of kin."
Cali wanted to tell them she didn't give a damn about her next of kin, but even in the moment she knew that some other unfortunate family would be getting a visit exactly like the one she was suffering through to tell them someone they loved was dead. It wasn't their fault their loved one was a whore who dated married men.
Could she even do this? There was a slim chance she would know who the woman was, anyway. She knew it wouldn't be any of her friends or fellow teachers. They wouldn't do that to her. That left his business acquaintances.
"I don't know how much help I can be. I didn't know any of Kevin's associates except a few I met at the holiday party a few weeks ago."
"Still, it would be helpful if you'd try. Is there someone you can call to go with you?"
She thought of her best friend, Lucy, but dismissed the idea immediately. They had been arguing. Lucy was angry at Cali for letting Kevin treat her so badly. She wouldn't be able to hold her tongue and as angry as she would no doubt be one day at Kevin for cheating on her, at the minute all Cali wanted to do was cry at his sudden loss.
"No. I'll go alone. Let me change."
Cali moved on autopilot, refusing to let the news sink in deep enough to hurt her. She went through the motions of putting on a worn pair of jeans and a sweater. She slipped on a pair of flats and pulled her long, thick black hair back in a ponytail. Out of habit, she reached for her makeup. Kevin had made sure she always looked her best when she left the house. As she looked at the pale version of her disheveled self in the large mirror, the reality started to sink in.
Kevin was gone. He would never again be there to even notice how she looked. Emotions raged through her brain. Conflicting and confusing emotions she knew she needed more than a few minutes to examine. She forced them down deep, vowing to get through the next few hours and then she could collapse later when she was alone again.
The drive to the county morgue was gratefully short. With each minute that passed, she felt more numb. She was conscious enough to suspect she was in shock, but she was helpless to change it. She let herself be led by the two kind officers through a darkened building, quiet at five in the morning. They stopped outside a door with a plaque on the outer door labeling it as the County Morgue.
Officer Jackson sensed her fear. He wrapped his arm around her supportively. "We'll be there with you Mrs. Bennett. The coroner will pull back the sheet covering just the face of the victim long enough to see if you can identify her."
She didn't answer. It didn't seem like she needed to. He led her through the double doors, across the large room to a small alcove sectioned off by hanging draped partitions like you'd see at an emergency room. Her eyes flew to the two long tables sitting side by side, both covered with white sheets. Cali felt as if she were leaving her body, levitating above the surreal spectacle. It was as if she were living this scene through someone else's eyes. It seemed her brain knew it was the only way she could get through.
The three men in the room let her stand rooted to her spot until she finally looked up into the kind eyes of the elderly man she assumed was the coroner. He smiled a mourning smile he must have perfected over his decades in his grizzly job. "Mrs. Bennett, I'm sorry for your loss. This has to be very hard for you. I do appreciate you coming down here tonight to try to help us identify the second victim in your husband's car. I'm going to warn you. There was some obvious damage done in the accident. This won't be easy. I'll pull back the sheet co
vering the woman..."
Cali cut him off. "I want to see Kevin first."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Mrs. Bennett. I'm sure you'd rather remember your husband as he was alive. Not here tonight."
"I want to see Kevin. I need to see Kevin. I won't believe it was him until I do."
The three men share a concerned glance before the doctor walked around to the other body. Cali felt her feet move like lead to stand next to the doctor. She took a deep breath as he pulled the sheet back from the face of the dead body below. That brief second seemed to last a lifetime. She wasn't sure what she hoped in that moment. Life with Kevin had been difficult, but there was a small part of her that still loved him.
There was no doubt. The body was that of her husband. She could see multiple deep cuts and abrasions and it was clear the doctor had attempted to clean him up at least a little. He was so white... chalky. She reached to touch him, but the doctor stopped her.
"You won't want to do that, Mrs. Bennett. His body is already getting cold. It's best if you remember him as he was."
She bent to his guidance, unable to rally enough emotion to do anything but follow directions. A single tear tracked down her cheek as the sheet was replaced over his face. It felt so final.
The doctor looped his arm through her own, leading her slowly around to the second covered body in the room. Cali had almost forgotten about this part.
"Again, I'm sorry to make you go through this after all you've already experienced. This victim has a bit more damage than your husband."
For the first thirty seconds after the sheet was pulled back, Cali had to fight back the urge to puke. The head of the dead woman on the table was crushed in several places, making it impossible to make out her facial features. Her question flew out, unguarded. "She must not have been wearing her seatbelt?"
When none of the men answered her, she looked up, locking eyes with the doctor. His answer was clinical. "She was not wearing a seatbelt. Based on the evidence at the scene, we believe this woman had your husband's penis in her mouth at the time of impact. His organ was severed completely and her head was crushed between the steering wheel, the airbag and your husband."
Her legs collapsed from under her. The officers were not fast enough to catch her before she slammed her head against the metal of the stainless steel examination table holding the woman's body. The woman who had bitten Kevin's cock off his body.
Finally... emotions coursed through her body. Many conflicting emotions, but the most prevalent was rage. Pure, unadulterated fury. It manifested itself in manic laughter. The officers attempted to lift her to her feet, but she slapped their hands away. She sat on the cold concrete floor of the darkened morgue, laughing and sobbing in equal measure. Surely this was what a nervous breakdown felt like.
To their credit, the men stepped back, letting her expend her rage until she had no more tears. Officer Jackson held out several tissues for her as Officer Stanton helped her to her feet. They were being so kind, yet she felt infuriated that they had put her in this position. It was wrong of them to ask her to identify the woman who had severed Kevin's cock. Strange thoughts flicked through one's brain in times of stress and Cali wondered that surely there had to be some unspoken etiquette rule about this.
A sudden need to be as far away as possible from this room of death consumed her. She needed to think. She started to step away, but the doctor had lowered the sheet to display more of the woman. Cali avoided looking at the mangled face, but focused on the shoulder length sandy blond hair with salon highlights. Nothing remarkable. The body wore a gold necklace, again nondescript.
It was only when the doctor pulled the body's left hand from under the sheet to hold it up for Cali's examination that the first flare of recognition stirred. In her precarious state, it didn't come to her immediately. A niggling memory floated through her brain, trying to take hold. The long, manicured fingernails were not unusual. It was the wedding ring. The home-wrecker was married too. Somewhere, a husband slept in their bed not knowing his wife had died a few hours ago with another man's cock in her mouth. A wave of empathy for the unknown man invaded. Only she could know what he would soon face.
It took several long minutes before it came to her. She forced her brain to focus long enough to remember seeing that huge square cut ring with dozens of surrounding baguettes set in white gold. She had admired it at the time while thinking the shrew wearing it didn't deserve it. She snorted a laugh as she realized maybe the bitch had gotten exactly what she deserved.
Cali looked at the officer across the body from her. Their eyes locked before she answered his questioning gaze. "Her name was Veronica Mikos. Her husband is a lawyer at the same law firm where my husband worked. His name is Nicholas Mikos."
CHAPTER THREE
"Nick. Did you hear what I said?" Nick had been lost in thought, staring out the kitchen window into his back yard. The fresh snow cover had a way of hiding the ugly, frozen ground. He wished it could hide the ugly reality of the last three days. He reluctantly turned his attention to his older sister standing at his kitchen island.
"I'm gonna wrap up some of these leftovers and put them in the freezer. There's no way you and Andi are going to be able to work through these before they go bad and it will be good for you to have some meals you can pull out later."
It was just like Natalie to be taking charge. He knew she was coping, trying to help her baby brother in any way she could. What else could she do to help? Veronica, his wife and the mother of his only child, was dead. That alone would be hard to deal with. It was the humiliating way she had died that made the already bad situation that much worse.
Nick had seen the pity in the eyes of his friends and neighbors at the closed-casket funeral this morning. The local newspaper had done a stellar job with their investigation into the fatal car accident. He didn't blame the media. Not really. Two married people killed while sneaking around behind their spouse's backs. It was a salacious story.
Nick had barely slept since the police came to the house Friday morning. He'd been trying to get Andi ready for school so he could drop her off on his way to the office.
Roni had told him she needed to go to New York to visit her sister whose marriage was crumbling. Only when his sister-in-law had shown up with her husband in tow for the funeral did Nick know the excuse had been completely fabricated. Veronica's lie had set things in motion to allow his wife the opportunity to die in the car with that prick, Kevin Bennett. The fact she had cheated on him was bad enough, but that it was with the pretentious asshole Roni knew he hated, made it hurt that much worse. So far, the only consolation he had received was that at least the bastard had paid with his life.
Nick mourned for his lost wife - his lost marriage. Even more, he mourned for his daughter's lost mother. No seven year old should have to lose a parent. It wasn't right. Still, as he moved to the doorway to the dining room, he watched Andi playing a board game with her grandma. Only her simple black dress gave away her recent loss. He didn't think his daughter really understood what was happening around her, and for that, he was grateful. There would be plenty of time for her to come to terms with their loss.
She looked up then, smiling a comforting smile that seemed beyond her young years. Damn, he loved that little girl. She was all he had left of Roni now. As Andi returned to the spirited game, oblivious to his pain, Nick remembered the first time he had set eyes on her.
She had been a few weeks old by the time he met his daughter. He had dated Roni for a few months the year before, breaking things off when he had seen how manipulative she could be. When she'd shown up on his doorstep with a baby who looked exactly like him, his heart melted on the spot. Andi had his own olive skin and black hair. She'd opened her eyes and stared directly into his soul just before the month old baby broke out into the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He knew in that moment his life would never be the same.
They had married just a few weeks later. Nick had a lot of reg
rets about his tumultuous relationship with his dead wife, but he'd never regret that she gave him Andrea. She was perfect. A wave of panic invaded as Nick worried for the hundredth time how he was going to manage raising Andi on his own. Veronica may have never won the mother-of-the year award, but she was at least there to do what needed to be done. Even after Andi was in school, Roni had elected not to work. At Nick's insistence, she had shuffled Andi to gymnastics and dance lessons over the last few years. Nick mentally added finding a nanny for his daughter to his growing to-do list.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do next?" His sister had come up beside him to look on the handful of remaining close friends and family members milling about. Part of him wanted to scream at everyone to get the hell out so he could be alone and think. The other part of him was terrified to be alone in the house with just Andi. He knew that would be when it would really hit him that Roni was gone.
He finally answered his sister. "Not really. I've taken the next two weeks off to try to get my head on straight and figure out what I'm gonna do."
"I wish I could stay to help longer, but I can only stay a couple more days."
"It's okay, Nat. I know you can't be away from the kids and the restaurant forever."
"They'll be okay without me for a few days. I'm gonna make you an offer, but I don't want you to be pissed at me." He heard the hesitancy in her voice, and turned to look down into her eyes before she continued. "I can't stay, but I'm happy to take Andi home with me." Nick immediately started to interrupt, but she held her fingers to his lips to shush him. "Not forever. Just until you have time to figure out what you want to do."
There was no way he was gonna let his little girl leave. "I appreciate the offer, Nat and I know you mean well, but Andi belongs here with me. I'll figure something out."
The laughter of his daughter and mother as they played the game seemed out of place in the melancholy room. Brother and sister watched the two people they both loved so much having fun. "I'd leave mom here if I thought she would be a help, but she's been getting worse. I'm afraid leaving her here would do more harm than good for you."
