Justice Served: A Barkley and Parker Thriller (23 page)

Even children could not be ruled out, should
they come out of love and a united front in giving them the best
life possible.

She considered that Vivian and Stuart had
lost a child before ever having it. She had gone to visit them the
day after the miscarriage and found that Vivian appeared to have
all but recovered physically, though her mental state was still
somewhat fragile.

“I never knew it would hurt so bad,” Vivian
had cried. “The baby was a part of my body, growing inside me. I
don’t know if I can deal with this.”

“You will,” Carole told her, “because you
have to, Vivian. Life goes on, no matter what awful things happen.
You’ll get another chance to have a child. Probably many more.”

Vivian fixed her with sullen eyes. “I could
never go through that again,” she declared. “I’m just not strong
enough.”

“It’ll take some time,” Carole said
feelingly. “But you’ll be fine. You’re stronger than you
think.”

Was she really? Or would Vivian be on a
downward slide for the rest of her life? Carole could picture her
never quite recovering.

Which begged the question: Had Vivian really
wanted to have her baby? Or had the doctor been right in his
suspicions that she found a way to avoid giving birth to a child
that Stuart wanted far more than she did?

Carole watched as Vivian fell asleep, then
left the bedroom and headed down a solid oak spiral staircase and
into the sunken living room with designer furniture and wall
paintings that Stuart had commissioned some young local artists to
do. She found Stuart standing near the window drinking a beer.

“How is she?” he asked.

“She’s still trying to come to terms with
what happened.”

“So am I,” Stuart muttered, eyes bloodshot
from lack of sleep. “I wonder if I’m somehow being punished for
talking Vivian into something she wanted no part of. Maybe it would
have been easier if she had gone through with the termination. At
least I wouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“Don’t, Stuart,” Carole scolded him as one
might a child. “You’re not being punished; neither is she. You both
made this decision together and fate intervened. There’s nothing
you can do about it, other than use this as a positive step to move
forward.”

Stuart put the bottle to his mouth. “It’s
hard,” he said bitterly. “You should know that better than anyone.
How positive did you consider it when your old man took away your
mother’s life with his brutal fists? This wounds me every bit as
much.”

Carole leveled her eyes at him. He had hit
her where it hurt most. She had confided in him her most painful
secret at a time when she needed to tell someone. Now he had shoved
it in her face, as if to maliciously break her down. She could
hardly compare the way he had lost his unborn child with the
violent way she had been robbed of her mother. Yet Stuart had
managed to believe the two were equal in their sheer agony.

Realizing what he had done, sensing her
thoughts, Stuart said regretfully: “I’m sorry, Carole. I didn’t
mean that.”

“Didn’t you?” she snapped. “I trusted you,
Stuart. I thought you would understand. Now I’m beginning to wonder
if you ever really did—”

“I do understand everything you’ve gone
through,” he promised, and put his arms around her protectively.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what the hell came over me. I guess I
was only thinking about myself and reacting like a jerk when you
were only trying to help. You know I’d never do anything to hurt
you intentionally. Forgive me.”

In spite of herself, Carole knew it wasn’t in
Stuart’s nature to strike out at anyone who only wanted to be there
for him as a friend. But it hadn’t changed the facts. He had used
what she had given him against her when the opportunity presented
itself. She was not sure she could, or should, ever trust someone
in that way again.

Including Ray.

Caught in the whirl of past and present
traumas, Carole had allowed herself to be held by Stuart longer
than she should. Before she could break away, Vivian was standing
there looking at them. The look in her eyes was one of dark
despair, fresh pain, and stark betrayal.

* * *

Carole ran in steady strides beside the
river, feeling the tension in her legs and the rapid pumping of her
heart. She recalled Stuart trying to reassure his wife that nothing
was going on; while at the same time trying to make apologies, as
if there was anything to apologize for.

As for Carole, she wanted only to get out of
there as fast as she could, unable to breathe or think straight.
But not before she made it perfectly clear to Vivian that
she
was the love of Stuart’s life. What Carole had with her
husband was strictly in the past.

Indeed, as though to hammer this point home
to all concerned, Carole had announced unceremoniously that she was
in love with another man.

Now she wondered if it was true. Had she
really fallen in love with Ray Barkley?

Did he love her?

Would it be enough for either of them?

Maybe I’m only fooling myself.

Carole began her cool down and considered if
she was prepared to deal with her past.

Could she ever feel comfortable telling Ray
things she’d never wanted to tell anyone? Things she had told
Stuart in a moment of weakness, which she now regretted.

Might she feel the same way after confiding
to Ray?

If things continued to progress between them,
could they actually have a family of their own one day that was not
marred by domestic violence, homicide, and a lifetime of agony?

By the time Carole returned to her condo, she
was exhausted, but felt better about things. Including the future
and its interesting possibilities.

She took a shower and put on a halter top and
shorts.

The phone ringing gave her a start. She
answered it.

“Hello.”

“It’s Stuart. Thank goodness I’ve finally
reached you.”

She could hear the quiver in his voice. “What
is it?”

Carole listened as Stuart spoke of his
meeting with Detective Parker. “I had to tell her some things I
didn’t want to...about you—” There was a break in his voice. “She
didn’t leave me much choice. You’ve got to believe that if there
had been any other way—”

Carole felt numb. It was as if she had
managed, if only briefly, to block out all that hurt her. Now it
all seemed to be coming back with a vengeance. She wondered if her
secrets would finally cause the world she’d made for herself to
crumble down around her like a house of clay.

“I think Parker and your boyfriend may be
coming your way next,” Stuart warned. “I just didn’t want you to be
caught off guard—”

Those last words were distant to Carole as
she considered the information he had shared with the police about
her past, their suspicions, and what might happen next.

She heard the intercom ring, further drowning
out what Stuart was saying. Walking to it, she punched the button.
It was Ray.

“We need to come up, Carole—” he said in a
voice absent of emotion.

We?

Not just him? Meaning Detective Parker was
downstairs, too.

Carole worried that this was official police
business.

Were they planning to confront her with past
sins?

Could they have found something incriminating
with respect to the vigilante on the loose? Something that would
point the finger directly at
her
?

Fear raced through Carole in that moment like
a tornado passing through town, destroying everything in its path.
She suddenly felt as if she were being victimized all over again.
Only this time not as a child, but as a sitting judge.

And perhaps a murder suspect.

She said glumly to Stuart: “I think I may
need an attorney—”

CHAPTER FORTY

Ray tried to come to grips with what Nina had
just laid on him like cinder blocks.

Carole had seen her mother murdered by her
father.

She was best friends with the director of the
Rose City Women’s Shelter, Esther Reynolds, and had actually
testified at her trial for killing her husband.

Carole had been involved with the married
defense attorney Stuart Wolfe. As in
lovers
.

Nina had said plaintively: “He didn’t admit
to it, but by the still-got-the-hots-for-her look in his eyes, he
might as well have.”

Ray wrinkled his nose, feeling like a jealous
boyfriend. Or even an indignant husband.
Why hadn’t she been up
front about her past—especially regarding Stuart Wolfe?

This thought alone consumed Ray. When were
they together? For how long? Was Carole still seeing Wolfe or
wishing she could?

Even worse was the prospect that Carole might
really be the Vigilante Batterer Killer. Meaning he could have
fallen in love with his worst nightmare from a professional point
of view. Hell, it wasn’t exactly something he could stomach from
the personal side of things either.

It made Ray wonder if he really knew this
woman he’d let into his life. What other secrets was she
harboring?

Did he truly want to know?

Not necessarily, but I need to
know
.

Ray glared at Nina, resentful she had
investigated Carole—his Carole—behind his back.

“Why the hell didn’t you come to me with this
from the start?” he demanded, though he knew what she would throw
back at him.

Nina squirmed in the chair across his desk,
but kept her gaze fixed on Ray’s face. “Why the
hell
do you
think?” she snorted. “To you the judge seemed to walk on water.
Maybe I would’ve felt the same way, had I let my
personal
feelings get in the way of my
professional
judgment, as you
obviously did.”

Ray bit into his lip. “Maybe you don’t know
me as well as you seem to think you do, Parker,” he hissed, feeling
like he was about to explode inside. “Or maybe you don’t really
know
her
—”

“Will you wake up and smell the roses,
Barkley!” Nina nearly levitated out of the chair. “I’m trying to
save your ass here. Mine, too. This isn’t about your sex life. Or
senior detective status with the superior attitude. It’s about
solving a case and saving lives. This was a judgment call, okay. I
went with my instincts and common sense that told me Judge Cranston
was the one person who seemed to tie all the disjointed pieces
together. If that’s wounded your male ego or taken a bite out of
your romantic adventure, I’m sorry!”

Ray took a long breath, steadying himself in
the process. Deep down he knew she had done the right thing. Just
as he would have had the situation been reversed.

That still didn’t convince him Carole was
their killer. Not the woman he believed her to be. The one who had
reached a part of him few others had.

But, he conceded, the circumstantial evidence
was hard to ignore in the face of the facts they did have.

His feelings for Carole would have to be put
on hold until he saw where this went. He hoped it wasn’t all the
way to hell and back.

“You did good, Parker,” he told his partner
in a sobering voice. “Even if you didn’t trust me enough to let me
know what you were up to.” He sighed. “Why don’t we follow up on
this information and go from there?”

Nina nodded thoughtfully, resisting any
notion of rubbing salt into his obviously deep wounds. “All right.
Deal.”

* * *

They rode in awkward silence as Ray pondered
what he knew about Carole and what he didn’t. She had tried to tell
him something, but he wouldn’t let her. Maybe it was it about her
parents...her father killing her mother and how it had affected
her.

She could have wanted to tell him about her
past relationship with Stuart Wolfe...and where they stood
today.

Or had Carole actually wanted to confess to
being an avenging angel for battered women? A serial killer living
on the edge of sanity?

He wondered if any of what they had was real.
Or had Carole just been using him as a means to stay one step ahead
of the investigation?

The questions seemed to outnumber the answers
about ten to one. Ray wasn’t sure he was up to having the pieces of
the puzzle filled in where it concerned Carole the judge, lady, and
lover. But he also knew he couldn’t run away from them any more
than he could the woman herself.

They had secured a warrant to search Stuart
Wolfe’s vehicle, in case he decided not to cooperate after all.
Another warrant would be easier to get for other property searches
if this yielded anything significant.

It was three-thirty that afternoon when the
detectives arrived at Stuart’s office. Police technicians had
followed them, prepared to go over the car with a fine-toothed
comb. If there was anything inside or outside to tie the vehicle to
any of the murders, they would find it.

Stuart was more than cooperative, walking
them to the garage where the car was parked.

“This whole thing is crazy,” he protested
mildly. “You can’t find something that isn’t there.”

“Let’s hope not, Wolfe,” Ray said menacingly.
“For your sake—”

But it wasn’t his sake that Ray was really
worried about. It was Carole’s. If she could be tied to the car in
any way, she would be in big trouble.

The techs got to work right away while Ray
and Nina observed closely, alongside a stoic Stuart.

He gave Ray a hard look. “Carole really likes
you, man. I hope to hell you don’t end up stabbing her in the back
for something she couldn’t—and wouldn’t—have done!”

“Give it a rest, Wolfe,” Nina tried to
interject her two cents. “Playing the guilt trip won’t work—not
this time.”

But Ray had to speak for himself. He fronted
Stuart man to man. “You seem to know a lot about her.”

“Yeah, so what’s your point?” Stuart said
smugly.