Eyes (25 page)

CHAPTER 30

Connie frowned as she stared down at the circle on her home pregnancy test. She'd been sleeping with Neil at every opportunity, and she still wasn't pregnant.

“Damn!” She threw the package in the garbage and sighed deeply. It had been eight weeks. If frequency was any indication, she should have come up with a positive result long before this.

“What's wrong, Alan?” Connie picked up Alan's picture and held it close to her ear. His voice had been growing fainter lately, and she could barely hear it.

The faint words he spoke made Connie shake her head. “No. I'm sure he's not using any birth control. Jill got pregnant, so I know he's capable of fathering our child.”

Alan was speaking again, and Connie strained to make out his words. How long would she be able to hear him? And what would she do if she lost the benefit of his advice?

“Absolutely not!” Connie managed to hear the faint whisper, and she shook her head again. “Jill's not the type to sleep around. I'm sure the baby is Neil's.”

Connie listened again and then her eyes widened. “But, Alan! It can't be my fault! I was pregnant before, remember? The doctor at the hospital told me nothing was wrong. He promised that I could have other babies.”

Alan's voice was a little louder, and Connie could hear him more clearly now. She listened. Then a shocked expression appeared on her face.

“I didn't think of that! Mark Turner played around a lot, and I know Neil's done his share of sleeping around. I guess I could have picked up an infection that's keeping me from getting pregnant. Do you think I should go to the doctor and see?”

Alan's response was emphatic. His words were much clearer when he was upset, and now he was definitely upset. “Calm down, darling. I'll call for an appointment and say it's an emergency. I'm sure they'll take me right in.”

* * *

“I'm sorry, Doug. There's just no connection.”

Greg Raleigh, one of the detectives on Doug's team, placed the case file on Doug's desk. Doug paged through it, then sighed. Greg had explored every possibility that he'd suggested, but they'd come up with zip.

“How about college? Or high school?”

“I tried that.” Greg nodded. “Woodard's the only one who went to college, and all three victims come from different high schools.”

“A sports connection?” Doug doubted that even as he posed the question. He wasn't surprised when Greg shook his head.

“Woodard wasn't interested in sports. He didn't even attend his kids' T-Ball games. Turner was on a soccer team, but Rossini never attended any matches. There's just no common thread.”

Doug started to frown. He wasn't willing to let his theory go without checking every possibility. “There has to be a connection. We just haven't found it yet. Clubs?”

“Just some kind of church leadership group for the reverend ‘men of Christ' . . . or something like that. His wife said there was a yearly conference in Baltimore.” Doug lifted his eyebrows, but Greg shook his head. “I know what you're thinking, but neither of the other two victims ever set foot in Maryland.”

Doug sighed. “There's got to be something. How about Rossini? He must have belonged to a couple of clubs. Car salesmen always join everything in sight. It's a way to make contacts.”

“You're right. He was in Rotary, Lions, Toastmasters, all the big ones. But the only club Turner ever came close to was that swinging sex thing with his friends.”

“How about that sex thing?” Doug looked thoughtful. “Rossini was a bachelor, and he didn't live that far away.”

“Nope. There's no connection there, Doug. Believe me, I checked.”

“Self-help groups?” Doug brightened as he thought of it. “Turner had a substance-abuse problem.”

“That's true, but the other two didn't. And Mrs. Woodard said the reverend didn't do substance-abuse counseling. He referred anybody with a drug problem to a shrink he knew.”

Doug nodded. “And you checked with the shrink?”

“Of course I did. He didn't recognize Turner's picture, but he went through all his patient files. Nobody matched the description.”

“How about the church itself?” Doug shook two aspirins out of the bottle on his desk. “Did Turner or Rossini ever go there?”

Greg shook his head. “I went to both services on Sunday, and I showed the pictures to everyone there. Nobody remembered seeing them.”

“We've got to be overlooking something.” Doug popped the aspirins into his mouth and swallowed them with a swig of cold coffee. “Any ideas?”

“No. I tried everything I could think of, but I came up with nothing to show for it. Are you sure these weren't random killings?”

“I don't think so.” Doug shook his head. “Still, it's always possible the connection is only in the killer's mind.”

Greg thought about that for a minute, but he still looked puzzled. “I don't get it. What do you mean?”

“Maybe they all looked like members of her family . . . or her former boyfriends . . . or neighbors she had. She'd see the connection, but we'd never find it.”

“I think I get it now.” Greg gave a nod. “If she was a waitress, the victims could have looked like former customers who stiffed her on the tip.”

“Exactly. And that gives me an idea. Did any of the victims go to the same restaurants?”

“I don't know.” Greg jotted “restaurants” down on his pad. “I'll check it out. We haven't tried that angle before.”

“Get right on it. And while you're doing that, I'm going to talk to a friend of mine to see if she's got any fresh ideas.”

Greg started to grin. “A woman friend with
fresh
ideas? That sounds interesting.”

“She's not that kind of a friend.” Doug shook his head. There were times when Greg's adolescent humor got to him, but his colleague was young. With a little more experience, he'd make a good detective. “My friend is married, and she's seven months pregnant. Before you bother to ask, the baby's not mine.”

Greg shrugged and got to his feet. “Too bad. I think you'd make a great father. I'll catch you later, boss. I'm going to check on those restaurants.”

After Greg had left, Doug stared at the door without seeing it for a long thoughtful moment. Then he straightened his shoulders and sighed. Greg was right. He'd do his best to be a good father, especially if Jill were the woman carrying his child.

* * *

Connie sat there in a daze for a moment. Then she asked the important question. “Are you sure?”

“I'm certain, Mrs. Webster.” The doctor used the fake name that Connie had given him. “We can prescribe antibiotics to clear up the infection, but the damage is already done. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but I'm afraid you'll never be able to conceive another child.”

Somehow, Connie managed to listen to his lecture on safe sex. After picking up her prescription at the pharmacy, she drove back to Jill's house. She gripped the wheel tightly and fought to stifle her scream of outrage. Mark Turner hadn't given her the infection that had left her barren. The doctor had told her she'd contracted the infection approximately six weeks ago. That meant Neil had infected her.

“He's a rotten bastard!” Connie was so angry she almost missed seeing the brake lights flash on in front of her, and she narrowly avoided slamming into the car ahead. “He cheated on me!”

There was the sound of a chuckle, and Connie's eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice.

“Alan!” Connie's hands began to shake. His voice was clear in her ear, and she hadn't even brought along his picture! “Are you mad at me, Alan? I tried my best. I really did. I slept with him every chance I got.”

“Maybe not.” Connie sighed deeply. “But he ruined everything for us. How can I have your baby if I can't get pregnant?”

Connie pulled over to the side of the road, even though she knew she'd have trouble getting back out in the heavy, rush-hour traffic. Jill was seven months pregnant and this was July. She had conceived sometime in December.

That's right, Connie.
Alan sounded very excited
. It was December. And Neil had his transplant the day after Thanksgiving. What does that mean to us?

“She's carrying your baby!” Connie's mouth dropped open in surprise. “But what can I do? I can't just take Jill's baby . . . can I?”

Connie heard him out, and then she nodded. Alan was right. Part of him was alive in Neil's body the night Neil impregnated his wife. Jill was carrying the child that should have been Connie's. And since Jill was pregnant with Alan's baby, they were entitled to take it. Just as soon as Jill gave birth, the baby would be theirs.

“Don't worry, darling. She'll never guess.” Connie smiled confidently as she waited for a break in traffic. But then her smile turned to a frown as she thought of another problem. “What will I do about Neil? He'll be at the hospital when Jill has our baby.”

Alan had another answer that made Connie's frown disappear
. He won't be around to cause a problem. Just listen to me, and I'll tell you exactly what to do.

As Connie listened to her beloved's voice, she gave a huge sigh of relief. Alan's plan would work perfectly. She had no doubt about that.

“Alan? Are you still there?” But his voice had faded away to less than a whisper. He was gone, but she knew exactly what she had to do to bring him back. Once she'd taken Jill's baby, Alan would be with her again. And then he and Connie and their darling baby could live together forever.

* * *

Jill jotted some notes on a pad as Doug told her what his detectives had done. “How about barbers? They could have gone to the same barber shop. Or bank. They might have had checking or savings accounts at the same branch. Maybe they even used the same ATM.”

“Thanks, Jill.” Doug grinned at her. “Anything else?”

She was smiling as she glanced at her notes again. Doug really wanted her advice, and that made her feel good. “All three men owned cars, didn't they? They might have used the same service station or the same mechanic. And you told me Turner had a closet full of silk shirts. They have to be dry cleaned. These men might have used the same place. And don't forget dentists and doctors. You might find something there.”

“Okay. I'll give Greg your ideas.” Doug's voice was warm. “If you think of anything else, will you write it down for me?”

Jill nodded. “I'd be glad to. I'm leaving early today so drop by before four to pick it up. Neil and I are going to a baby class at the hospital.”

“A baby class?” Doug looked puzzled. “What's that?”

“It's a class for new mothers. They teach us breathing techniques to use when we're in labor, and they take us through the whole process, step by step. Tonight's graduation, so we're supposed to bring our husbands. We're going on a tour of the delivery room and the nursery. And they're going to show the husbands what to do if they want to be present during the delivery.”

“Is Neil going to be in the delivery room?”

“No way!” Jill gave a little laugh. “He's always been squeamish. He'd probably faint. Some husbands do, you know. He says he'd rather wait until the baby's in the nursery and I'm back in a regular room.”

Doug nodded. “Are you disappointed?”

“A little, I guess. But it doesn't really matter. Connie says she'll be with me if I want her. How about you, Doug? If you were married and your wife was having a baby, would you want to be in the delivery room?”

“Absolutely.” Doug looked very sure. “I'd want to be with her every minute.”

“It wouldn't bother you, seeing your wife like that?'

Doug looked shocked. “Of course it would! But if she wanted me, I'd be there.”

Jill was thoughtful as he left her office. He'd make a great husband for some lucky woman—considerate and loving. And he'd make a wonderful father.

A frown crossed Jill's face as she thought about Neil's reaction to the baby class. Although husbands were encouraged to come with their wives, he hadn't gone to a single meeting. He'd already told her that he felt uncomfortable around infants because they were so small and you had to be careful how you held them. Since he didn't feel confident enough to change a diaper or feed their baby a bottle, he'd offered to hire a nanny to help her.

Jill guessed that was better than nothing. Neil had admitted his faults, and he was trying to compensate for them. But she was almost sure that he wouldn't have much to do with the baby for the first year or so. He'd be fine once the child was walking and talking, but she couldn't help comparing Neil's attitude to Doug's.

Doug would change the baby's diapers. Jill was almost sure of it. And he'd take turns feeding the baby and getting up in the middle of the night. He wouldn't hire a nanny to take over for him. He'd enjoy helping out and getting to know his child.