by Lori Leger
Red rubbed his face roughly. “I know,” he said. “I’ll be there in an hour and a half or so.” More to himself than anyone else, he added, “But I have to tell Doc, first.”
<><><>
Tiffany came out of surgery at ten forty-five, feeling pleased with the routine arthroscopic cartilage repair. She turned as she heard a technician call her name.
“Dr. LeBlanc, someone is waiting to see you at the nurse’s station.”
“Thanks Shawna,” she said, walking quickly in that direction.
She beamed when she saw Red leaning up against the wall, but as she got closer, she could see the glum expression on his face. He pushed off from the wall and walked toward her.
“Hey Tiff, is there some place we can go to talk?”
“Sure, babe, this way,” she said, pointing toward the doctor’s lounge. “What’s up?”
He grabbed on to her upper arm and pulled her in the direction she’d pointed to, but remained silent.
“Red...you’re scaring me,” Tiffany gasped, trying to keep up with his long strides.
“Where are we going?” he asked brusquely.
“Through those doors,” she said, as Red pushed through the double doors of the lounge.
As soon as they entered the room he released her and walked to the window.
“Red...what happened?”
“Everything’s a bust, Doc. They found a detonator in my office, rigged with a timer, and that means the alibi is useless.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. What else has happened?”
“I can’t marry you.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s happened?” she asked.
He spun away from her and ran his hands through his hair. “We moved too fast, that’s what happened.”
She pulled her hair from its ponytail prison, frustrated at not getting any answers. “Damn it, Red, stop being stupid and tell me what happened.”
He turned to face her. “I don’t want to marry you.”
The message didn’t affect Tiffany nearly as much as the dead pan tone he used to deliver it—cold as ice. She felt as if he’d slapped her in the face. “Red, we’ll work through whatev...”
“Nobody has seen Angelique since Saturday night, and everyone in the club saw me angry enough to kill her that night. It doesn’t look good.”
“I know you didn’t have anything to do with that. Don’t do this, Red. Let me be there for you,” she pleaded.
“There’s more. The woman who died in the club was pregnant and an anonymous caller said the baby was mine.”
Tiffany could feel the blood leaving her face. “Was it?” she asked.
“No, but that won’t stop people from believing it.”
“It stops me from believing it, and that’s all that matters, Red.” She watched him carefully, knowing he was doing this to protect her, praying he’d stop and instead accept the support she offered. He took a deep breath and she tensed, knowing in her gut he wouldn’t do that.
“I don’t want you, Tiffany. It was fun, but that’s all it was. I’m sorry if I made you feel otherwi...”
“Cut the crap, Red!” she barked. “You weren’t the only one to graduate Summa Cum Laude, so don’t think you can pull off that pitifully lacking performance with me. I know th…”
“You don’t know a damn thing,” he said, his voice, cold and blunt.
“I know the two most important things in this world, in my world. I know you’re crazy in love with me, and I know you’re incapable of murder.” She saw the battle raging within him and felt a sudden urge to slap some sense into him, even knowing he only did this for her…the selfless bastard. She watched his jaw work furiously as he prepared himself to speak.
“Yeah, Doc—” he finally muttered, “—and the jails are full of innocent men.” He pressed his palms over his eyes. “Look, I can’t worry about myself and you too. I’ve got to go turn myself in if I want to avoid the humiliation of being arrested in a public place.” He turned toward the door. “It was nice knowing you, Doc.”
“Nice knowing you?” she said, hysterically. “Red, you’ve known me, biblically speaking, three times in the last twelve hours...without a condom...remember?”
<>
He strengthened his resolve and turned to her, knowing what he had to do. “It was good, too. Thanks for that, by the way.” He turned, thinking how ashamed his parents would be if they knew how he was treating her. Thank God they didn’t have to find out. He’d only called Jackson and Giselle to be witnesses for the civil ceremony and had already informed them both that it couldn’t happen. He walked to the door, stopped dead in his tracks at her next statement.
“You need to call your parents before they leave Gardiner.”
He turned slowly toward her. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted to surprise you, so I invited them to the ceremony. I wanted us both to have family there,” she said, lamely.
Both? “Who else did you invite to the ceremony?” he asked, dreading the answer.
“Drake,” she said.
He dropped his head forward, feeling an intense sense of defeat. “I’ll call my family—you call yours. I’m sorry, Doc. I’ve got to go.” He turned and left, leaving Tiffany alone in the room.
Red climbed into his truck and called his parents, thanking God they hadn’t left Gardiner yet. He filled them in on recent developments, and his mother seemed to understand his reasons for calling off the wedding. The fact that he’d put an end to his relationship with Tiffany drew immediate disapproval from his tiny matriarch.
“Oh Red, that’s just stupid. That girl cherishes you. Don’t toss her willingness to be there for you like last week’s paper.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but it has to be this way. Tiffany has had to jump obstacles all her life to get where she is. I’ll be damned if a relationship with me is going to be the one thing to trip her up now.”
“I still don’t agree but you know we both love you and we’re here for you, Son.”
Red spoke to his dad for a bit before disconnecting. He pressed his hand to his chest, recalling one of his grandmother’s old sayings when she felt sad about something. I feel ti peu sick to my stomach, but beaucoup sick at heart.
<>
Halfway to Lafayette, Red called Detective Harper. “Hey buddy, I just wanted to let you know that I’m on my way in to the station.”
“Thanks Red, I’ll be here. Oh, I ran a trace on your phone lines. Those calls have all been made from cheap cell phones...all disposable...all untraceable. We’re trying to track down who bought them, but I don’t have much faith that we’ll find anything. He probably picked them up from different places like 7-Elevens and Quick Shops and paid cash.”
“Yeah, I figured that would be a dead end. That son of a bitch was right about one thing. Life, as I knew it, is over.”
“Hey, don’t give up on us. You have friends over here.”
“That doesn’t mean you won’t throw my ass in jail if you have to,” Red commented.
“Well, yeah, if it comes down to that, we will. We’ll also bust our ass trying to catch the SOB that’s setting you up. Have a little faith, Red. That girl of yours is worth it, don’t you think?”
Red’s silence must have spoken volumes to the seasoned detective.
“You didn’t do anything stupid like break it off with Dr. LeBlanc, did you?”
Red kept his mouth shut.
“Oh man, for somebody so smart, you sure are a dumb bastard. Are you out of your mind? Women like that don’t come along every day, you dumb Scottish prick!”
“Hey, watch the name calling!” Red growled. “Do I call you a stupid Half Breed? Besides, what the hell was I supposed to do? Let her pine away for me while I rot in jail? That’s worse than the shit she had before.”
“You can start by not being so damned dramatic. We’ll catch this guy, Red. Then you can sail off into the sunset with the good doctor.”
“Hmph. After the wa
y I just left her, she may never speak to me again,” Red told him.
“Really? Well if that’s the case, maybe I need to buy myself a big old boat.”
“Shut up, you half-breed, scum bag, son of a bitch!” He frowned at his friend’s guffaw of laughter.
“See ya, McAllister.”
<><><>
Tiffany shuffled into the doctor’s lounge after her last surgery and collapsed on the sofa, feeling bone tired, despite the fantastic night of sleep she’d experienced in Red’s arms. Or had that been a dream? So much had happened since then that it seemed far away, like watching a scene from someone else’s life. When she thought her day couldn’t get any worse, Tanner sauntered in the room. She groaned, stretching out on the couch to give silent thanks to God that she hadn’t spoken of the wedding plans to anyone here at the hospital.
“Hey, Tiff. Are you feeling alright?” Tanner asked, standing over her.
“Great, now what do you want?”
“I…uh…heard the news.”
Tiffany tensed. “What news?” she asked, shifting her gaze to the back of the couch.
“They’re holding Red for suspicion of murder, arson, and possible involvement in the disappearance of someone named Angelique Baptiste.”
She turned to face him again. “So, you came here to gloat?”
He jerked back, seeming surprised at her accusation. “No, and despite my dislike of Red, I know he’s incapable of doing any of those things.”
Tiffany remained silent, knowing if she opened her mouth now, the flood gates would open. She would not humiliate herself by crying in front of Tanner or any other member of this staff.
“Frankly, I’m a little surprised that you’re not with him at the police station to show the world that you’re standing by your man.”
“Shut up, Tanner,” she seethed. “I’m in no mood for any of your crap.”
“Tiffany...I didn’t mean it like that.”
She stood up suddenly and faced him, angry that her ex had the cahonas to confront her about this. “How the hell did you mean it then, Tanner? You said you weren’t here to gloat, but here you are...doing just that!”
He stepped closer. “Tiff...I’m sorry...I’m so sorry. Please let me help you,” he said, trying to hold her.
“Get away from me,” she hissed, pushing him off. “You know, even if I don’t end up with Red, I still won’t go crawling back to you. I’m done with that life and I’m done with men who don’t want me.” She turned her back, leaving him alone in the lounge.
<><><>
Angelique pushed the on button, waiting for the internet browser screen to appear. She sipped her cup of coffee then pulled up the website of one of the Lafayette news stations. Every day she’d kept tabs on the story of the burning of Red’s club. The first day they’d reported the club owner was not a suspect in any investigation of arson. It relieved her, knowing Red had an alibi. The second day she read about the woman’s body found in the rubble, and despite turning her skin cold and clammy, it still gave no word of Red being a suspect.
The real horror had begun the day she’d read his alibi was useless, the pregnant woman, her cause of death being a broken neck, as well as the tip from the anonymous caller claiming Red was the father. “Anonymous, my ass…” she seethed, knowing exactly who the caller had been. Every day for a week, she’d pulled up the station’s website, praying to read they’d found the real murderer/arsonist. Seven days and they were no closer to the truth.
Angelique released an exhausted sigh and sat back against the chair, wondering how she’d gotten herself involved in something like this. Her anger and humiliation at being thrown out of the club, rejected by the only decent man she knew other than her father, and she’d let it happen. She’d met up with him outside and he’d said all the right things to soothe her, repair her damaged ego: “Of course you aren’t to blame. After all these years you had every right to think there should be something more...Red used you then threw you aside for another woman. A beautiful woman like you doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. What you need is a real man.”
Cher bon Dieu...she’d thought she’d found herself one that night.
Just thinking about the things she’d done with him, things she’d never done before in her life, made her skin heat. She’d had sex with him out at the back of the building, up against the rough exterior surface of the club. She was tall, nearly six foot, and by no means skinny, but he’d handled her as easily as if she were a rag doll. The man had definitely been talented in the area of pleasing a woman and he was most definitely well equipped. She had never had pleasure like that before.
Looking back on it now, she knew she’d been played, that every word he’d spoken was done with the sole purpose of taking advantage of her emotional insecurity at the time. That alone, was enough to shame her.
What she’d discovered about him later did more than shame her, it terrified her, enough to disappear without a trace. That man had skills above and beyond the norm of the average Joe, she was sure of it. She’d seen several tattoos on him, some of them military in nature, she was sure of that, too. She also remembered seeing one in particular, out of the ordinary and somehow familiar. Try as she might to recall where she’d seen it before, she’d failed.
After their sexual encounter in back of the building, he’d held her close, asked her if she wanted to get back at Red, and her pride had overtaken good sense.
Once she’d agreed to meet him at the club after closing time, she’d driven around to clear her head and eventually reason had prevailed. She realized it was her own fault Red had thrown her out of the club.
After closing time, she’d gone back there, but only to tell the man she’d changed her mind. She entered the quiet club through the unlocked side door and heard and angry confrontation between him and his girlfriend, it had turned out. The things she’d heard him say had made her blood run cold and scared her enough to make her leave town without a word to anyone—especially her parents.
Angelique laid her head on the desk, wondering what she could do to help Red out of this mess. She picked up the phone and dialed his cell number, but it was turned off. She called information for his new listing in Lake Coburn and jotted down the number given to her. She dialed it carefully and waited for someone to answer...again, with no luck. She thought about calling the Lafayette Police Department, but what if he had friends there? She couldn’t risk it, not yet, anyway.
Chapter 15
Tiffany moved mechanically through her surgeries during the next week. She was a perfectionist when it came to her skills, and as far as the situation with Red was concerned, that changed nothing. Every cut, every suture was performed with precision. Every patient seen to with her usual care and expertise, but the harder she tried to act like nothing was wrong, the worse her heart ached. She overheard the nurses whispering that something was missing, her usual spark was gone.
Again, Tanner walked in on her while she was seated in the doctor’s lounge sipping a hot cup of chamomile tea. He walked over and stood in front of her, effectively blocking her view of the wall hung television screen.
“Move,” she said.
“I want to talk to you about something, Tiff.”
“Does it pertain to work?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t want to talk about it with you.”
“Look, lady, you’re miserable and you need to talk to someone.”
“I’ve grown accustomed to misery, Tanner, thanks to you.” She threw back the last sip of tea and tossed the empty cup in the trash. “Now that I think of it, the five years I spent being miserable with you was like a training camp for the big game,” she said, spreading her arms wide. “It’s game time.”
Tanner sighed and sat down next to her. “What’s going on with Red’s case?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “You watch television. I’m sure you know as much as I do. I’m not in that loop, anymore.”
“Tiffany,
this isn’t like you.”
She stood suddenly and looked down at him. “How the hell would you know what I’m like? You tried to mold me into something I wasn’t for five years because you didn’t like the real me.”
He stood up. “That’s not what that was about, Tiffany. I was trying to help you...”
“How? By making me feel like I wasn’t good enough for you?” she asked. “Way to help, Tanner.”
He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “No...I... Maybe one day, I’ll be able to explain my reasoning to you, but I can’t right now.”
She stepped up to the window to stare out at the park across the street.
“Have you spoken to Red recently?” Tanner asked.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I just want to know because I care.”
She snorted and turned toward the door. “Sure you do. I’ve got to prep for surgery.”
He grabbed her arm as she passed him. “Tiff, seriously. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
Tiffany glared at his hand on her arm until he released her then left the room without a word. By noon she’d checked on her last patient and she was ready to jump out of her skin.
She went to speak to her administrator and thirty minutes later, walked out with his blessing to take a week and a half off of work. A travel guide friend of hers had called her the night before and told her she could get her on a five day Caribbean cruise because of someone’s last minute cancellation. Five days on a ship drinking tropical drinks was just what she needed, and God help any man who tried to hone in on her alone time. She’d come back tanned, relaxed, and hopefully free of this ache and emptiness in her chest.
After stopping for a few supplies she went home and began to pull her suitcases out of closets to pack. That’s when she realized she’d left her Louis Vuitton carry on at Red’s house. Damn it, I need that bag. She pulled out her phone and dialed Red’s number. As usual, he didn’t answer. A fresh stab of pain sliced into her at his willingness to throw everything away.
