Serial Separation (13 page)

Chapter 35

After Mike’s call, Lisa started a
slow burn.

Why was Scott getting Mike involved?
Who was ‘they?’ Was there another detective, and why hadn’t Scott called her by
now?

Scott had a nerve to mention their
relationship to Mike. So maybe she was having a problem with Jimmy—that was no
one else’s business.
Scott is going to have some explaining to do. How much
of our sex problems did Scott share with Mike?

She spotted the keys to her new
Mustang on the office table. She slapped them off, and they hit against the
office door. She knew she was breathing hard, hearing her heart beating in her
ears. When she calmed down, she thought about how they met—and their sexual
excitement. They both had missed that growing up. They were ripe for a heated
romance and had found mutual pleasure in their explorations. Her anticipations
had matched Scott’s. They had shared their feelings, and how this and that
pleased their bodies.

She remembered the long rides in
the car that became her opportunity to tease him until he was about to explode.
Then, when they were alone, she would purposely slow the pace to heighten his
anticipation. She thought about shaking a soda bottle until it was ready to
explode . . . that’s what they had.

She knew Scott loved her. Sharing
their relationship with Mike showed how much he cared. She shared their
relationship with Judy, so why would she be upset that Scott had shared things?

Scott should be talking to her
about her behavior. She realized he had tried on numerous occasions, and all
she had done was bite his head off. She had even commented that he was over sexed.
Earlier, that was something that made her love him even more. Now it was
something that caused her to push him away.

Lisa, get your act together . .
. or you’re going to lose him
. She knew she was acting strangely and it did
relate to her ordeal with Jimmy Ballou.

The images of Jimmy’s naked body
haunted her all the time, especially when Scott was about to make love to her.
She remembered being knocked out by something he held against her nose and
mouth. When she woke, she was naked on a bed—and tied up. His hands were oiling
her body, and it was difficult to remember what happened after that.

Sex had been different with Scott.
Jimmy’s was lusty, dirty, one-sided, painful, and embarrassing. He was getting
all the pleasure at her expense. She closed her eyes to the pain he caused. She
felt tears on her cheeks and the hopelessness of it all.

After the ordeal, Scott had tried
to make love to her, but when he tried to enter, she recoiled. She knew her
mood changed, and it had nothing to do with Scott. She wanted him more than ever,
but she had not been able to shake Jimmy’s image, and it haunted her.

He was dead, thanks to Scott
finding and rescuing her. She was glad Jimmy had slipped to his death in that
flaming fall.
I know I need to tell someone about what happened to me, but I
haven’t been able to tell even Scott. I could never tell Mom.

She wondered if she would ever be
able to enjoy Scott again. Would she wind up scaring him away, or sending him
to someone else? He was the one for her, and she knew it with all of her heart.
She realized it from the moment she’d met him in the library the day Kennedy
was shot. He was so comforting to both her and Judy.

She knew she needed to talk to
someone. She couldn’t talk to her mom about this. Mom never knew the details of
her ordeal, only that she was lucky to be rescued. She vowed to talk with Scott
or have another conversation with Mike.

She needed to talk to Scott. When
was she going to hear from him . . . would it be too late?

Chapter 36

It was Christmas Day and Jeremy and
Neil shared their presents. Neil was a real jokester and had found JJ a great
gift—something for a cold winter’s night. It was a knitted cover for his
manhood. Jeremy had given him a more practical gift—a large bottle of Jack
Daniels. ‘Jack’ was always something special for guys in college.

Jeremy was studying the feminine
colors of the knitted protector and thought of his ordeal.

“JJ, are you and Dottie going to go
away over New Year’s weekend?” But JJ just stared at his gift. The radio was on
in their dorm room when the report came on. They weren’t paying much attention;
it was stuff about the storm.

Then the report mentioned a torso had
been found off the coast yesterday that investigators believed to be the body
of Bob Sullivan, missing a week ago.

The report mentioned a coed’s nude
body found yesterday along the Fens. She had been raped and stabbed multiple
times. Investigators confirmed the body was that of Cathy Palmer, reported
missing the same day as Sullivan.

They were both reported to be
together at the time they were abducted. Police were not commenting on the
cases, but they speculated the torso found yesterday was linked to two previous
murders and would be part of the task force investigation.

Neil looked at Jeremy and noticed
Jeremy’s hand shaking as he held the present.

“JJ, what is the matter? Do you
know either of these people?”

“No, but that makes three guys
killed in the same manner.”

“So?”

Jeremy just looked at Neil.

“JJ, I’ve never seen you like this .
. . you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Can we open your Jack?”

“Sure.” Shortly, they were both
swigging from the bottle, but his was more like a double.

“JJ, I’ve known you long enough to
know you haven’t been yourself lately . . . something is bothering you. What is
it? I’m your friend, and you can share whatever it is with me. Is it Dottie?”

“No. It’s not her.” He took the
bottle from Neil and took another long drink. “I can’t share this with anybody,
not even you or Dottie.”

“Shit man—you’re freaking me out!”

Jeremy held the garment out in
front of him and stared at it.

“Are you upset by what I gave you?”

“No, nothing like that . . . the
torsos they found.” He paused.

“Yeah?”

“They were missing their heads,
hands, and feet.”

“Yup.”

Jeremy was still staring at the
gift. “And their balls and dicks!”

“Yeah, that’s my understanding,
even though they hadn’t really expressed that.”

Jeremy got up and went to his
dresser drawer and brought his cousin’s hockey article and looked at it again.

“What’s that? What’s the problem?”

He responded slowly. “This is an
article about a hockey league, new at the time of the article. Let me read
three names to you: Paul Maloney, Tony Sangello, and Bob Sullivan.”

Neil just looked at him.

“The three guys’ bodies that were
found, they belonged to this hockey league. Don’t you think that’s a strange
connection?”

“Why does that bother you?”

“It makes an impression.” He took
another long swallow of the Jack and added, “One of the other players in that
league was my cousin—Jason ‘JJ’ Johnston.”

Neil replied, “Wow that brings it closer
to home.”

“Yeah, Neil, we both share the same
nickname—‘JJ.’ That brings it even closer to home.”

Jeremy now understood why he had
been kidnapped and almost murdered.

Chapter 37

Mike had been playing some of the
new games with his kids. They were all enjoying the comfort of their home and
the family time together. He had explained his call to the Andersons to his
wife. Scott never made it, but Lisa was there safely. He said he had tried to
talk to Lisa about what was bothering her, but she just got upset with him.

“Honey, Lisa is not the Lisa we
know. I can see why Scott mentioned her behavior was so changed.” The phone
rang and interrupted him.

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, Mike.”
Mike recognized Paddy’s voice.

“What’s up?”

“Mike, have you had the news on?”

“No.”

“Well the news has reported a body
found along the Fens. It was a coed. She had been found naked, raped, and
stabbed to death. Initial reports say it’s the body of Cathy Palmer, who was
reported missing along with Bob Sullivan. They also have made it public that
the torso found is that of Bob Sullivan.”

“It’s a shame those families will
not be enjoying the holidays.”

“Right. Mike, can you make it to
the office later today? I don’t think we can wait on this matter any longer.”

“I’ll just have to do some things
here, but I can get away. Do you want me to call the others?”

“No, thanks. I’m taking care of
that myself. I’m sorry to take you away from your family. They say the roads
are passable, but be careful.”

“Thanks, Paddy. See you later
today.”

He broke the news to his wife, who
had learned about holidays, or the lack of them, and police work.

* *
*

Mike thought about his call to Lisa
and decided to try Scott at the number Lisa gave him. The phone rang and rang
at that number, and he let it ring for quite some time.

A man’s voice finally answered.
“Topsfield Cabins.”

“Thank you for answering. I’m
trying to reach Scott Tucker. Is he there?”

“Yes, they’re registered guests—cabin
seven.”

“Can you get him to the phone? It’s
important.”

“Well, we just got our power back a
few minutes ago, but I’ll try to connect you. Please hold.”

He could hear a different type of
ring.

* *
*

“Hello?”

“Scott. This is Mike Miller. I’m so
glad I reached you.”

“Merry Christmas, Mike. I didn’t
know the power came back, but you obviously reached us. I never knew we had a
phone here; it was in a protected alcove.”

“You said ‘us.’ Is Mercedes with
you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, here’s what’s happening.
Paddy called us in this afternoon to go over some new developments. Briefly,
the body found has been identified as Bob Sullivan. His girlfriend’s body was
found along the Fenway. She was raped and stabbed. She has been identified as
Cathy Palmer, who was with Bob when they were abducted.”

“We need to jump on this right now.
Can you . . . can you both make it back this afternoon?”

“Well, when I last checked, my car
was buried under more than a foot of snow, and the driveway here has not been
plowed. But we’ll do our best to get there.”

“Great. Scott, you need to call
Lisa. I tried this morning to see if you made it there, but Lisa said you
hadn’t. We had a conversation, and I tried to let her know that I would try to
help her if something was bothering her. She got upset with me, and you need to
know that before you call her.”

“Okay. Thanks for the warning.”

“One more thing. In the
conversation, I mentioned that I had left a message with Colleen to tell ‘them’
not to try to reach Newburyport. Well, she picked up on that, and she will want
to know about the other investigator. You need to be prepared.”

Scott was a little slow responding,
“Okay. That’s also good to know. I’ll see you later.”

Mike ended the conversation with,
“Good luck!”

Chapter 38

While I was on the phone, I saw
Mercedes fumbling with the towel, smiling at her inability to cover herself.
After Mike’s call, she was sort of covered, and I felt overexposed. She was
sitting on the hearth, smiling with her back to the fire.

I walked over to my side of the bed
and wrapped the towel around me. Mercedes left the hearth and went over to the
other side of the bed and turned on the nightstand light. She glowed in the
soft light as she stood motionless.

Catching myself staring, I had to
say something. “I was going to tell you we had power, but you obviously
noticed. I had no idea we had a phone.”

I turned away and flipped the
heater switch on the thermostat and the light dimmed. “That was Mike Miller.
Paddy has asked the team to assemble later today.”

She said, “The hell with this . . .
you don’t mind, do you?” She posed holding the towel for a few seconds, and my
towel answered before I could.

“I can tell you the details on the
way. That is, if we can get out of here.”

She went over to the window,
looking out through the parted curtains. I was staring again.

“It’s quite a sight out there.” She
turned slowly, knowing I was staring. She nodded her head. “It’s quite a sight
in here too.”

She joined me. My resistance failed
and we kissed, falling on the bed. She quickly took control, and I felt
uncomfortable again.

“Scott, how much effort is it going
to take me to make you feel at ease? I would have thought we would be beyond
this by now.”

I broke our embrace and sat up. She
rolled onto her elbow, studying me.

“Mercedes, I’m sorry. I can’t be
what you want me to be. Mike told me he talked with Lisa this morning and she’s
all upset. Upset because I’m not there, and not talking with her. It’s
Christmas. He also talked with her about her recent behavior. He also mentioned
I’m with another member of the task force.”

“So, what are you going to do about
it?”

“I’m going to try to reach her.”

She smiled like a cat. “How about a
shower first?”

“The water is still going to be
cold.”

“Scott, believe me, you won’t feel
a thing . . . I said that wrong . . . you won’t feel the water.”

“Why don’t you go? I’m going to
make that call.”

She stood, running her hands
through her hair. “Are you sure? This could be our last time together. Suit
yourself then.” She turned to go in the bathroom. “You still amaze me.”

Shortly, I heard the water running.

* *
*

I tried the phone and there was a
dial tone. I called the operator and gave her my name for a collect call. I
could hear the operator asking Mrs. Anderson if they would accept a collect
call from a Scott Tucker.

“Hello, Scott.”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you, Scott. I
take it you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“Just a minute; let me get Lisa.”

Lisa picked up, “Hi, Scott.”

“Merry Christmas, Lisa.”

“Yeah, well it’s not anything like
that.”

“I’m so sorry I didn’t make it last
night or today.”

“Are you safe? You didn’t have an
accident, did you?”

“No, I didn’t. The roads were
really bad, and we had to pull off.” I realized I said ‘we.’

“Mike told me there was another
detective with you. What’s his name?”

I was too slow answering. “It’s not
a he . . . it’s a she.”

I could tell she was digesting
that.

“Interesting. Are you staying at a
motel?”

“No, not exactly—it’s a set of
cabins.”

“I hope you had separate cabins?”

“Lisa, we shared the same cabin. We
didn’t plan on staying anywhere, and we didn’t have enough money for two
cabins.”

“Very convenient. Tell me you slept
in different beds then?”

“Lisa, I’m not trying to hide
anything from you.”

“Scott, you were supposed to be
here for dinner last night. It was Christmas Eve, it took me three hours to get
to my parents’, but I made it. You weren’t even headed in this direction if
you’re staying on Route One in Topsfield. It’s Christmas, and I’m just hearing
from you now. How does that add up to you?”

“You’re right; it looks bad, but we
were lucky to make it safely anywhere yesterday.”

“Scott, I’m sure you were lucky.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.
Mike called me, and we have to go in to the task force to go over some
developments on the torso killings.”

There was quiet on the line, and I
was about to ask her if she was still there.

“Scott, you can be with the task
force until hell freezes over. And you can shack up with ‘Ms. Detective’ too,
for all I care. You can forget going skiing over New Year’s weekend with me.”

I could hear her crying and then a
loud click.

The door to the bathroom opened and
Mercy came out dressed and trying to dry her hair. She looked more stunning
than ever.

“Problems?”

“You betcha!”