Midnight Caller (16 page)

He started to cross toward her, and again she raised her hand. “No, Tony. Please. There’s so much more I need to say. And if you come any closer…” Her smile touched his heart. “I might not get it all out.”

Patience. Don’t blow it now
. He waited.

Erin lowered her eyes. “My parents had an ongoing battle
they called a marriage. Their anger and hatred became as viable as a fourth person occupying our home. There’d be long stretches of ice-cold silence followed by bitter outbursts of rage.

“I always believed my father’s job caused their unhappiness,” she said. “Then when my husband divorced me after we found out about Jack’s cerebral palsy, I didn’t have a high regard for marriage to cops. Or, truthfully, marriage in general.”

Erin shuddered at the memories and, suddenly, he understood how difficult it had been for her to have taken a chance with him at all.

“I was certain I would never allow myself to get into a relationship again…with anyone. It’s just too hard.” Erin looked up and her gaze locked with his.

Tony’s stomach sunk to the floor like a lead ball. How could he blame her? Wasn’t he a living example of her worst nightmare?

“I was wrong.” Her eyes pooled with tears.

“Dennis left because he was shallow, irresponsible and selfish. And I lost my father to a drug dealer he pulled over for speeding. He had pulled over thousands of speeders in his twenty-nine years on the force. My father died because it was his time to die. People die every day. They die on the job, in accidents, from illness, old age. If I live my life afraid to love someone because they might die…or because they might leave…I’m going to live a lonely, empty life.”

Erin twisted her hands, but otherwise, she stood straight, shoulders back, facing him with strength and courage.

“It took me time to come to grips with loss. And lots of prayer to try and sort out my feelings.” She looked up at him, the tears gone. “I didn’t want my marriage to fail. I didn’t want to lose my father. I didn’t want to lose Carol. But I did.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“I realize those pieces of my heart are gone and can never be replaced. But I also realize the only way to protect my heart from the pain of loss is to never love.” Her smile filled the room like sunshine coming out from behind a dark cloud. “And to never love…is the worst kind of death. God knows how important it is to love. He made it one of His greatest commandments.”

She looked vulnerable but determined. “I came here to tell you I’m sorry.” She took a step. “I love you.” She took another step. “And if you give me one more chance, I’ll do it right this time.”

The back of his throat burned with unshed tears and he swallowed hard to compose himself. “You had me at ‘hello.’”

Erin stared at him for a moment, then laughed out loud at the reference to the
Jerry Maguire
“chick flick” they’d watched together after Amy’s birthday party. She ran to him and he wrapped his left arm about her. He buried his face in her hair, reveling in its silkiness and deeply inhaling the sweet strawberry scent of her shampoo.
Thank You, Lord, from the bottom of my heart
. He lifted his face, gazed into her shimmering green eyes and his heart clenched.

Gingerly, she placed her head on his chest. “I’m sorry, Tony, for hurting you.”

“Shh. Don’t apologize. ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry.’” The second reference, this time to
Love Story
, made them collapse against one another with laughter. He grimaced as pain shot through his body, but it was worth it.

His chin rested on the top of her head. He was happy. Truly happy. For the first time in his life. And he didn’t want the moment to end. Selfishly, he cradled her against him for another minute, purposely closing out the rest of the world. Then, when he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer, he
leaned back and tilted her chin with his finger. “Erin, I need you to sit down. There’s something I have to tell you and it’s going to be hard for you to hear.”

T
ony pulled over a straight-back chair with his left arm and straddled it in front of her. His expression made butterflies of anxiety dance in her stomach. The smile faded from her lips. She burrowed deeper into the recliner beside him as if she could escape bad news. “You look so serious. You’re not going to take your turn breaking my heart now are you?”

Tony opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, they were interrupted.

“Housekeeping.” The door swung wide and Jim Peters entered the room with his mop and pail. “Sorry for interrupting, folks. This will only take a minute.” The janitor emptied the wastebaskets in both the bathroom and the bedroom. His quick movements and the furtive glances he tossed their way made it evident he didn’t like disturbing them. True to his word, he mopped the room in record time. The man nodded and pushed the bucket out into the hall when Erin called to him.

“Mr. Peters, wait.”

He turned in the doorway.

“I’d like to ask you something.”

“Ma’am?” He had a hard time making eye contact with her. It was hard for Erin to believe this shy man was the same one
who played so openly and naturally with the children. “I was wondering if you ever freelance outside of the hospital?”

A puzzled expression crossed his face. “Freelance? I’ve cleaned offices for some of the doctors, ma’am, but I don’t do people’s homes.”

Erin laughed. “No, Mr. Peters. I’m sorry, I wasn’t asking if you wanted to clean my house. I wanted to know if you’d be interested in doing your clown act for my son’s birthday party.”

He stared at her. “You want me to come to your house?”

“Yes.” Erin’s smile widened. “I watched you perform. The children love you.”

He smiled. “Thank you, ma’am. I love the children.”

“It shows.” She crossed over to him. “My son turns six this Saturday. I know I’m giving you only a couple of days notice, but the children have been going through a difficult time lately. I hoped…”

He studied her for a moment before saying anything. “You’re one of the nurses who work down in the emergency room. Wasn’t there another nurse down there who got herself killed not too long ago?”

A wave of pain washed over her, but Erin kept her composure and merely nodded.

“I think I’ve seen the two of you around the hospital together. Wasn’t she your friend?”

Erin shoved away her distaste for his questions. She knew it was normal to be curious, but the pain was still too raw. “Yes. Carol left behind a daughter named Amy who misses her mother. The child adores your clown act. I just thought if I throw a birthday party for my son and you perform, maybe it will help ease things back to normal a little.”

“I’ve never done my act for anybody but the kids on the fourth floor,” he said. “But if you really think it will help…”

Erin hugged the man and laughed aloud at the startled expression on his face. “Sorry,” she said, taking a step back. “But you don’t know what this means to me. I think a birthday party with a cake, balloons, friends and the greatest clown who ever lived is just the thing my family needs right now.” She grabbed her purse, withdrew pen and paper and scribbled her address with directions to her house. “Here.”

He read it. “What time do you need me?”

“I don’t know. This is all spur of the moment.” She thought for a minute. “How about two o’clock? Will that work for you?”

The man nodded and shoved the paper in his pocket. “I’ll be there at two.”

“Thank you, Mr. Peters.” She watched him push his equipment into the hall. “Isn’t that great?” Erin spun around. “Amy and Jack will be so happy.”

“Yes, they will.”

“You’ll come, won’t you? I know you need your rest and you won’t have to stay long, but Jack would be so disappointed if you didn’t make it.”

“Of course, I’ll come. Try keeping me away.”

She smiled and hoped her love for him was evident in her eyes.

“Erin.”

His sober demeanor worried her.

He stood up and cupped her hands in his. “They found Carol’s killer. They arrested him a couple of hours ago.”

“They found him?”
Oh, thank You, Lord. Carol did you hear that? They caught the creep
. “Are you sure? They really found him?”

Tony nodded.

“I thought you had bad news.” Relief swept over her. “This is wonderful. The whole miserable nightmare is over.” She
wanted to dance with happiness. “I can’t believe this. I have to go. I have to tell Tess. I don’t want her to hear it on the news. You have no idea what this means to us. We were so scared.”

He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I know. So was I. But it’s over. You’re safe now.”

“You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Tell me.”

“No more baking cookies or brewing coffee for cops.” She laughed. “Except for one very special cop who is invited to be underfoot anytime he wants.” She leaned her head lightly against the hollow of his throat, being careful not to put any pressure against the sling on his right arm. “If only we could have found him thirteen days earlier Carol would still be alive.”

“I know.” He held her closer.

“But I don’t understand.” She looked up. “Why did you hesitate telling me?”

A grim expression crossed his features. “Because you know him, Erin. It’s a friend of yours.”

Erin straightened. “A friend?” Her voice sounded incredulous even to her own ears. “No way. No one I know could be the monster who killed Carol.”

Tony held her gaze almost as if he was trying to offer her his strength. “I’m sorry, Erin. Early this morning they arrested Dr. Robert Stone for the murders.”

The strength drained out of her body and she plopped on the edge of the bed. “That’s ridiculous. Robert couldn’t kill anyone. You have the wrong man.”

“I know how you must feel.”

“You don’t have a clue how I feel.” Anger and disbelief laced her words. “You’re crazy if you think Robert could do this.”

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t think he was capable of it either when I interviewed him.”

Erin stiffened. “You interviewed Robert? When?”

“Robert Stone is Carol’s Mystery Man. He’s the one who reported her missing.”

“I don’t believe you. Carol would have told me if she was dating Robert.”

Tony grasped her hand. “You were best friends. I get that. But even best friends have secrets.”

“No. You’re wrong.” She pulled away from him and stood up. “She didn’t tell me because there wasn’t anything to tell. Robert was Amy’s pediatrician, nothing more.”

“Erin, think about it.” Tony leaned back against the straight-back chair and looked at her. “You know Carol had met someone. You told me yourself that she seemed to be head over heels for the guy, but she wouldn’t identify him.”

“It wasn’t Robert.” Her voice shook and her words came out in a whisper. “She would have told me if it was Robert.”

“Why? Because you dated him, too?”

“Yes. No.” She looked at him in distress. “She would have told me because we were friends.”

Tony tried again to clasp her hand. “If it’s any consolation, she was going to tell you when she got home from her date.”

Erin raised an eyebrow.

“Carol wanted to make sure the guy didn’t still have feelings for you and believed that night would have cleared that up.”

“How?”

“Stone showed me a diamond ring. He planned to propose that evening. The guy put on quite a show and I fell for it.” Anger shone in Tony’s eyes. “He sat in my office and pretended to be scared for her safety when he knew…”

Erin shook her head. None of this seemed possible. Her stomach roiled and she had to fight to keep from retching.

“How do you know it was Robert?” She swallowed hard to hold back the bile in her throat. “What evidence do you have?”

“It took us a while, but we finally made the connection between the women. Dr. Stone was their pediatrician. We almost didn’t catch the threads because Cynthia Mayors switched pediatricians a few months before she was killed.”

Erin pulled away and paced back and forth like a caged tiger. “So what if Robert was their pediatrician? Calling him a killer is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

“That’s not all we have.”

She waited for him to continue.

“This morning they found a locket embedded in the carpeting under the passenger side of his car. A locket with Amy’s picture in it.”

Erin squeezed her eyes closed. She knew that locket. It was a gold heart. She knew because she had given it to Carol.

“That’s not enough.” Erin wrapped her arms tightly across her chest. “All it proves is Carol was in Robert’s car. If they were dating, then it’s quite plausible she might have dropped it.”

“You’re right. There’s more.” Tony stood up and looked her straight in the eyes. “All four women recently changed their phone numbers to a private listing. Stone had a record of their new numbers.”

Erin felt the blood drain out of her face and she feared she might faint.

Tony’s grim expression told her this was as difficult for him as it was for her. She tried to keep her teeth from chattering as the reality of the situation impacted her.

“The locket wasn’t the only item found in his car,” Tony continued.

She steeled herself, knowing the worst was still to come.

“Several weeks ago we retrieved samples of blood and
hair from a piece of fabric found beneath Leigh Porter’s body. We found a similar scrap of fabric in the trunk of Dr. Stone’s car. We can’t be certain until we send it away for DNA testing, but I’m expecting the blood on the swatch to match Leigh Porter’s blood.”

Erin raced for the bathroom and barely reached the toilet. She retched and then retched again, emptying the contents of her stomach.

Tony followed her to the bathroom. He wet a cloth with cold water and held it to her forehead. “I’m sorry. I wish it would have been anybody else.”

Erin leaned back against the cold tile. Nothing made sense anymore. Her world was spinning out of control. She knew her shocked, disjointed emotions showed in her eyes, but she couldn’t control her runaway feelings as she looked up at Tony, silently imploring him to make it all go away. “How do you date a serial killer and not know it?” she whimpered. “How do you care for someone? Become friends? Let them near your children?”

She covered her mouth with her hand and fought another retching episode. When her stomach settled, Tony helped her to her feet. She rinsed her mouth at the sink and patted cold water on her face before turning to face him. “How can I ever trust my judgment again? I brought a monster into my home and I didn’t know it.”

“Erin…”

“Robert was my friend. I cared about him.” She laughed and the shrill sound hung in the air. “You’re telling me that he killed my best friend.” She looked directly into Tony’s eyes. “And I was next.”

Tony wrapped his unencumbered arm around her shoulder.

She clasped the front of his hospital gown. “I have to be
the one to tell Tess. She can’t hear about this on the television.” Erin fled the bathroom and picked up her purse.

Tony grabbed his shirt and pants from the closet. “I’m coming with you.”

“Tony, you’re not discharged until tomorrow.”

“I’m coming.” His tone of voice allowed no room for argument. He went into the bathroom to dress.

He signed the discharge-against-medical-advice forms at the nurse’s station and ushered Erin into the elevator. Once outside, she looked up at him.

“Tell me this is a cruel joke. It can’t be Robert, can it?”