Organized to Death (29 page)

“It can’t get any worse. I’m going to jail for a long, long time.” He shook her again. “And it’s all your fault!” His voice was full of rage.

She didn’t know what to do. If she screamed, she was afraid he’d throttle her or drag her away.

She forced herself to relax in his grip, then threw herself forward, planting a huge kiss on his mouth, pushing her tongue against his lips, forcing it into his mouth.

He stiffened but then relaxed just enough for her to break loose. She couldn’t back away because she was up against the Volkswagen. She tried to duck around him, but he caught her easily. “Let’s do that again.”

Tina closed her eyes, trying to blot out the horror. His mouth mashed onto hers, and this time it was his tongue that probed. Bile rose in her throat, and she remembered being sick the day before. She let it come, prayed it would come.

And it did. He pulled away in disgust, choking. This time Tina ran past him, spitting as she went.

Two feet from the back door, he grabbed her by her jacket collar. She screamed and sawed her elbows backward, hoping to connect with something that would hurt him. He pulled harder on her collar and she felt herself choking, unable to take a breath.

The back door opened, light spilling out. Uncle Bob and Princess stood there. “What’s going on?” Uncle Bob asked as he took a step forward.

Princess growled low in her throat, then lunged toward Ted. He screamed, letting go of Tina’s collar. She almost fell to her knees but steadied herself. Uncle Bob took her elbow.

She turned around to see Ted flat on his back on the ground, Princess standing over him, his arm in her mouth, her head shaking back and forth vigorously.

“Get her off!” Ted yelled. “Get her off!”

Laura came to stand next to Uncle Bob, the portable phone in her hand. “I called nine one one. What happened? Is that Doctor Ted?”

Tina nodded. They watched the man and the dog struggle for a while, then heard the sirens. Ted finally quit moving, and Princess stopped shaking his arm but didn’t let go.

“Get her off,” Ted said a few times, but softly. It looked as if all the fight had gone out of him.

A police car pulled up, siren squalling and lights flashing, a second car right behind. Four officers jumped out of the vehicles and came up to the group, weapons drawn.

“Don’t shoot the dog!” Uncle Bob shouted. “She’s protecting my niece.”

“Call her off,” one of the officers shouted back.

“What?” Uncle Bob asked.

Tina whirled in front of him and said slowly, clearly, so he could read her lips, “Call her off.”

“Princess!” Uncle Bob’s voice shook. “Come here!”

The golden retriever whined and looked at Uncle Bob for a long moment.

“Here, girl.”

Princess let go of Ted’s arm and backed away from him until she reached Uncle Bob’s side. Then she sat down, her eyes never leaving Ted.

Ted started to get up. Princess growled.

“Stay where you are,” the same officer said. “Well-trained dog,” he said to Uncle Bob.

Uncle Bob just stared at him. “He said she’s well trained,” Tina shouted over the noise of the sirens. She turned back to the officers. “Can’t you turn those things off? My uncle is hard of hearing, and he won’t hear a thing you say with all that noise. The dog is a hearing service dog, and yes, she’s very well trained.” Tina put her hand on Princess’s head and stroked her just a bit. She knew she shouldn’t—Princess was working—but the dog had probably saved her life. What she really wanted to do was get down on her knees and bury her face in the dog’s fur, hugging her tight.

One of the officers holstered her gun and walked away to turn off the sirens.

The one who had first spoken said, “Okay, what’s going on here?”

“He attacked me.” Tina pointed a shaking finger at Ted. “I was running for the house, and he caught me by the collar. My uncle opened the door, and Princess jumped on him and kept him down. My mother called nine one one.” She looked at Laura, who leaned against the doorjamb, the phone still clutched in her hand.

One of the officers walked over to Ted, gun drawn, and told him to roll over and cuffed him, then helped him up. The officer searched him and asked him his name. When Ted told him, he said, “You the doctor they just had in this morning? The fake doctor?”

Ted’s head was bowed, and no one but the two standing next to him heard his answer.

“We’ll take him in,” the officer said, grasping Ted by the elbow and leading him to one of the cars.

The female officer had come back after turning off the siren. “It’s chilly out here. Can we go indoors and take your statements?”

“Of course,” Tina said. She watched Laura let go of the doorjamb and turn around. Her mother looked ten years older all of a sudden. Tina hurried inside and took off her jacket, fishing out her worry stone from her blazer and pressing it hard as everyone trooped into the living room and found places to sit.

“You go first,” the officer told Tina.

As Tina talked, she saw both her mother and Uncle Bob become more and more upset. When she got to the part of almost reaching the door and Uncle Bob and Princess standing there, she stopped.

Uncle Bob took over the story. Tina noticed that both officers often glanced at Princess.

“Princess lets me know I need to attend to something by placing her head against my leg if I’m standing, or by putting her chin on my knee if I’m sitting. She came over to me and kept nudging my leg. Laura and I couldn’t figure out what she wanted because we both knew the phone wasn’t ringing, none of the alarms had gone off, and the doorbell hadn’t rung. But after a bit, I decided to follow her. She led me to the back door, and when I opened it, she ran out and attacked that man. He was holding onto Tina’s collar and was choking her.”

Uncle Bob stopped and took a few deep breaths. The shock was wearing off, Tina realized, and now he and her mother were going to have a rough time.

“She must have known something was wrong before Tina even screamed,” her mother said. “I heard Tina when we got to the kitchen, but not before.”

The doorbell rang. Both officers stared at the blinking light over the doorway. Laura stood to answer it, and no one said anything until she came back with Lisbeth and John. Lisbeth walked right into the living room, but John hesitated at the doorway, watching Princess, who stayed by Uncle Bob, wagging her tail.

Tina grinned. It felt good. Big bad policeman, afraid of golden retriever. Unless he attacked someone in the room, he had nothing to fear. Tina remembered now that goldens rarely attacked anyone, were one of the gentlest of dogs. Relief washed over her when she realized what might have happened if Princess hadn’t acted against her natural instinct.

“Are you all right?” Lisbeth asked Tina.

Surprised, Tina nodded. A policewoman with a heart of gold? She realized she was being unfair. Why else would Lisbeth become a police officer if not because she wanted to help people?

“Have a seat,” Laura said to John and Lisbeth. “Can I get anyone something to drink?”

“I could use a soda,” Tina said. She wondered if she’d ever get the taste of bile out of her throat. She hadn’t told the police about the kissing. She shuddered.

Lisbeth noticed her discomfort. “You might want to call your doctor and get some sleeping pills and tranqs if you feel the need.”

Tina and Uncle Bob stared at her. Laura stopped on her way out the door and looked back.

“Oh, sorry. Hockmann was your physician?”

Tina gave her a rueful smile. “Afraid so.”

“Too bad,” Lisbeth said. “You wouldn’t want him prescribing anything.”

“No,” Tina said. She was retelling the tale when her mother came back with a tray of sodas, and after giving one to Tina, offered them around. Uncle Bob took one, and Lisbeth, but everyone else declined. Laura set the tray on a large ottoman.

Lisbeth popped the tab and poured her soda into a glass of ice, then put the can back on the tray and settled into the wing chair. “I’m not quite clear on why Hockmann was talking to you. You were his patient, but you were seeing him or something?”

“Or something,” Laura said sharply. “She was working for him.”

“Really?” Lisbeth said and took a sip of her drink. “As a professional organizer? Didn’t he just set up his practice? Why would he need your services?”

“He took over from Dr. Stevenson,” Tina said. “Who’d left the place in a bit of a mess. Ted and I ran into each other out walking one evening—he lives down the block. I told him what I do, and he asked me to help him out.” She realized Lisbeth had taken over the investigation. The other two officers, after having said hello, remained perfectly still.

“Ran into each other how?” Lisbeth asked.

Tina felt heat rising from her chest to her face. “He was outside when I went out for a walk.”

“He was walking along, or just standing there, or what?” Lisbeth asked.

John’s interest obviously perked up at this line of questioning. His hand hovered over his notebook.

“It seemed to me he might have been waiting. He was sort of behind the big tree in the front yard.”

“He was interested in you.” It was a statement. “Had you met him before?

Tina knew she was blushing furiously now. “I went to him for my yearly checkup just a week or so before we met outside.”

There was a long moment of silence. Tina was afraid to look at John. Or her mother. Or Uncle Bob. She felt dirty all of a sudden and suppressed a shiver.

“What kind of exam?” Lisbeth asked softly.

“The usual.”

“For a woman?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Lisbeth was going to drop it, and Tina gave her a grateful look. “He was interested in you romantically, you think?”

Tina nodded. Her mouth was so dry. She took a long drink of her soda and stared at the floor.

“How did this interest manifest itself?”

“He kissed me.” Tina could sense her mother stir. “Just once.” She wasn’t going to tell about the kisses which were not real kisses that had happened earlier.

“It’s my understanding,” Lisbeth said, “that you were the one who figured out he wasn’t a real doctor. Why were you even suspicious?”

Hank must have told her that. Did they have a personal relationship?
Don’t even go there,
she told herself.
Concentrate on the questions and your answers.

“I’m not sure. How he acted when I asked him about his background. He was evasive. He acted weird when I was looking at his diploma. Both nurses mentioned that he seemed unsure of himself sometimes. When he found out that I might be at risk for cervical cancer, even though he’d done a Pap smear … “She blushed again. “He insisted I see a specialist.”

Uncle Bob shifted in his chair, then laid his hand on Princess’s head. Laura’s face was drained of almost all color. Tina realized her mother was now worried that an incompetent doctor had proclaimed Tina healthy.

Lisbeth’s expression didn’t show what she was thinking. John sat stone-faced, his head bowed over his notepad.

“Anything else you think might be important to tell us?” Lisbeth asked.

“No,” Tina said. No way was she going to talk about being tailed by a white car with her mother and Uncle Bob in the room. They were already worried enough. Hopefully, Hank had followed up on that.

The police officers all stood up and turned to leave. “We’ll type up your statements and need you to come in tomorrow to sign them,” John said, nodding at Tina and Uncle Bob.

Uncle Bob looked as if he hadn’t quite heard what John said. Laura took his arm. “We’ll explain everything later.”

“Okay,” Uncle Bob replied. He was used to not understanding everything, Tina realized, and felt a pang for him.

After everyone left, the three of them went to the kitchen. Uncle Bob poured brandy into three snifters, gave Princess two treats, and sat down. They sat staring at each other for a moment, then took long swallows of the brandy.

“You see what happens when you go poking around,” Laura said.

Shocked, Tina burst out, “So all this is my fault?”

Laura didn’t answer. Tina sat speechless now, then looked to Uncle Bob for help.

He cleared his throat. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it Laura?” he asked mildly.

Her mother slumped in her chair. “I guess so. Of course it isn’t your fault, Tina. It’s just that you
did
push for answers. All that computer searching.”

“No way I could know it would lead to this,” Tina said bitterly.

“Of course not,” Uncle Bob said. “Now tell me what that detective said about tomorrow?”

“We have to go sign our statements,” Tina said.

“Oh, is that all? I’ll have to go practice my John Hancock.”

Tina gave him a little smile. “Yes. What else did you miss?”

“Well, of course I can hear or lip-read almost everything you say, and that was the important stuff, so I think I’m good.”

Suddenly Tina was crying. It was all too much. She was exhausted. She was scared. She wanted to go to sleep until they figured out who murdered Crystal. Suddenly, she yearned for Hank. For him to hold her.

Not Brandon, she realized. Hank.

Her mother stood up and put her arms around her. Tina leaned into her as Princess placed her chin on her knee and Uncle Bob patted her hand. She knew she was lucky to have all three of them.

Tina woke to the ringing of the telephone. She couldn’t believe she’d been able to fall asleep so easily after her crying jag last night. But she had. Not that she felt rested. She glanced at the clock. Ten fifteen!

She groped for the phone. When she picked up the receiver, she heard her mother say, “I’ll go get her.”

“Don’t wake her,” Hank said.

“I’m awake. Good morning.”

The click told her Laura had hung up.

“Why didn’t you call me last night? I had to read about your being attacked in the morning paper.”

Tina swung her feet off the bed and ran her hand through her hair. “It’s in the paper?”

“You bet. Local girl attacked, almost murdered. A hint attempted rape may have been involved.”

“Damn it. I don’t need this.”

Hank’s voice softened. “Of course you don’t. I almost climbed onto your balcony and in your window a while ago, but after what happened last night, I figured it might frighten you, so I called instead.”