Shadow of Death (14 page)

Instead of pulling in the garage next to Natalie's vehicle like he would have normally done, Troy purposely parked his truck on the outside of the garage door, on the side where he knew Natalie's car would be. He wasn't going to give her a chance to run away from him this time.

He walked in the front door and found her at the kitchen island in tears, staring at the pictures of him and Cheryl. “Hi” didn't seem like an appropriate greeting at the moment. He stood, not knowing what to say, wanting to rush to her and hold her, but not wanting to be pushed away. Natalie was the first to speak.

“Where have you been?”

“With Robert.”

“What happened to your shirt? And what are all those marks on your face?”

Troy looked down and saw the ripped pocket of his dress shirt and the encounter with Cheryl came flooding back to him. All of a sudden, the wounds on his flesh felt fresh. “I allowed my temper to get the best of me.”

“So you were with Robert
all
day?”

“Pretty much. I went to his job and stayed there until he got off, and then I followed him home where I've been ever since.”

“Cheryl didn't come by the house to visit you any time today?”

“No!
Where'd you get that?”

“Charla.” Natalie told him about her encounter with their neighbor earlier.

Are you seriously questioning me about something Charla said?
Troy wanted to say. Instead he opted for, “Call over to the Hamptons'. I'm sure they'll both verify what I've said. I have not spent the day with Cheryl nor have I been having an affair with her.”

“I really want to believe you; I don't know how. You told me about the Shay girl at the gym liking you, but you didn't tell me about your history with Cheryl. That has me inclined to think that you kept Cheryl a secret for a reason. I'm scared…I don't want to be like those women who stand by their husbands only to look stupid in the end. How can you explain these pictures?”

He moved toward her slowly. “I can't. All I know is that I love you and I have never willingly done anything with Cheryl or anyone else that violates our marriage.” He waited for her response. When he didn't get one, he continued. “I admit that I should have told you about her harassing me. I thought it would eventually stop and I didn't want to worry you unnecessarily. It's apparent to me now that Cheryl is out to destroy my life. I don't know why and I'm not even sure I care. If I lose you as a result of this, she will have succeeded.” Troy reached out to Natalie and was relieved when she came into his arms. Her body wasn't totally relaxed, but holding her was more than he thought he'd get. He pushed her back slightly and lifted her chin. “I promise that I didn't cheat on you. I love you too much to hurt you like that,” he said, wiping her tears.

Seeing the pain in her eyes, ripped Troy to the core. He knew how fragile her emotions could be. She put on a front of having a tough shell in front of others. Even when she tried to do it with him, her eyes would give her away. Beautiful, big, and brown eyes, that spoke volumes when her words got lost. “I'm sorry,” he whispered, still holding her face. When she closed her eyes and arched up to him, he did not let the moment pass. He met her lips with his. The tenderness of her mouth ignited him. He pulled her in close, fervently kissing away the saltiness left by her tears. She, too, must've felt the passion because she wrapped her arms around his neck. He was seconds away from scooping her into his arms and taking her to their bedroom where the culmination of their love awaited when the doorbell rang followed by a demanding knock.

Troy, slightly irritated by the interruption, quickly sobered his hormones, remembering that he was awaiting test results. He would have gladly ignored the door and savored the emotional reconnection he and Natalie were experiencing. She, however, reacted differently. Natalie snapped back into a defensive position as if she regretted letting her guard down. “I'd better get that.”

“Babe, let it go,” he pleaded, gently holding on to her arm. “We need this. It's probably Charla again and you know she doesn't want anything.”

Natalie denied his request. “I can't!” She shook her head. “This is too soon. I need time.”

Troy watched her walking toward the door feeling dejected. He held on to the kitchen island for strength, nearly hating whoever it was for the intrusion.

“Hello, ma'am, I'm Detective Nugent. I need to speak with your husband. By any chance, is he available?”

Troy, overhearing the introduction, rushed to the door. There was no love lost between him and Donald Nugent as the two had personalities like oil and water. Troy wasn't sure how anyone got along with him. Nugent had been on the force for well over twenty years. He was a stocky guy who seemed more drawn to law enforcement because of the power he had as a result of the badge rather than a love for justice and helping others. He wore a gold class ring imprinted with the year he graduated from high school on the side and the word “Bruins” at the top right above a small purple stone. Troy was willing to bet that Nugent was a jerk back then as well. Two uniformed officers stood quietly behind him, dangling their hands from their holsters. “What can I do for you?”

Nugent, standing at the front door all smug with his arms crossed, made Troy want to smack him simply for the heck of it. “Well, since you asked, you can answer a few questions about your encounter with Cheryl Hunter this morning.”

That name alone was enough to anger Troy. “Don't tell me that she called y'all because I went to her house. If she pressed charges on me, then—”

“You went to see her!”

Oh crap!
Troy hadn't had a chance to share the details of this morning with Natalie. “Honey, it's not what you think. I only went there to tell her to leave us alone. I know it was stupid, but I was angry and didn't know what else to do at the time.”

“You told me you were with RJ all day.”

“I was. I went to Cheryl's first and then I went to his job.”

Natalie looked at him with an even deeper level of disgust than she had that morning. “You expect me to believe that you weren't having an affair with her and yet you know where she lives. I'm done!” She turned away and stormed up the stairs.

Instinctively, Troy started to shut the door and run after her, but Nugent kept it from closing. “Not so fast. I still have some questions for you about Ms. Hunter. You can answer them here and risk upsetting the missus even more, or you can come with us down to the station.”

Troy looked back, glancing up the stairs one last time. He and Natalie had been so close to bonding again, if only for the moment.

“Well, what's it gonna be?”

Reluctantly, Troy agreed to go to the station with the condition that he would drive himself. He hated to leave Natalie, but the quicker he settled this mess with Cheryl, the sooner he'd be able to get back to his wife and console her. He grabbed his keys and followed Nugent and the other officers to the station. As he was backing out and looking through his rearview mirror, he noticed a hole in the blinds quickly close across the street at the Harrows.
Great!
Just what he needed…his mentally challenged neighbor or her mama to make up something else!

At the station, Troy followed Nugent into the interrogation room where Nugent read him his rights with a smirk.

“We could've skipped the formalities,” Troy responded impatiently. He wanted to get this over and go back home. “I don't know what Cheryl told you, but I know it's nowhere near the truth. She started a whole bunch of drama with my wife and me. I'm tired of it and after this, I'm pressing harassment charges.”

“Is it true that you went to Miss Hunter's home earlier?”

“Yeah.”

“And what happened when you went there?”

“I told her that she needed to leave my family alone. She's been harassing me with phone calls and text messages, and then this morning, she told my wife that we've been having an affair.”

Troy noticed the ever so slight tension lines in Nugent's face. “So you and Cheryl Hunter have not been having an affair?”

“No!”

Nugent smirked and, again, Troy wanted to smack him just because. “I have witness reports that you were seen banging on Miss Hunter's door this morning. Is that true?”

“Yeah. Like I said, I went there to tell her to leave us alone. I was angry.”

“What time did you visit Miss Hunter's residence?”

“I don't know. Sometime between nine and ten, I guess. I wasn't really paying attention.”

“And what happened when you arrived?”

“I told you.
I told her to leave my family alone and I left.”

“Did things get physical between you and Miss Hunter by any chance? I'm curious to know what happened to your shirt, and you have some prominent marks on your face. You mind telling me how you got those?”

Flashbacks of his hands around her neck brought an embarrassed flush through his veins. This question was a catch 22. If Troy said yes, he'd go on record admitting to assault. If he said no, he could potentially make matters worse, especially if there was any evidence that he'd laid the slightest hand on Cheryl. To his knowledge, he hadn't hit her, but he couldn't be sure. “Look, Nugent. I know how this game works. Instead of asking me all these questions trying to find a way to trip me up, tell me what this is about. What accusations has Cheryl trumped up against me?”

“Let me play something for you. This is a nine-one-one call that came in at nine thirty-seven this morning. I think you'll find it interesting.”

“Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?”

“He's trying to kill me,” a woman whispered in the midst of someone yelling and hitting things in the background.

“I'm having a hard time hearing you. Please speak up.”

“He's trying to kill me!” She spoke more frantically while noise continued with the man screaming profanities at her.

“Who's trying to kill you?”

“Troy…Detective Troy Evans. He's upset because I told his wife about our affair. Please hurry. I'm scared!”

Nugent stopped the recording.

“That's not me!” Troy vehemently protested.

“By your own admission, you were at her house this morning during this time frame and you were upset with her. Are you now changing your statement?”

“No, I'm not. I know that's not me. Cheryl opened the door for me. Why would she do that if she was scared I would kill her? I'm telling you, she's crazy. She's trying to set me up. Friday evening, she drugged me and took me to a motel. She did it so she could take pictures that made it look like we slept together, and then she showed my wife, claiming that we are involved.”

“You expect me to believe that someone as tiny as her drugged you and forced you to go to a motel against your will. C'mon, Troy. I know better than that. You were upset with her this morning for telling your wife that the two of you were having an affair, weren't you?”

“We didn't have an affair!
That's what I'm trying to tell you. She made all of this up!”

“You were at her house, right?”

“Yes, but not when that call was made.”

“Officers showed up at Cheryl's address within ten minutes. Guess what they found? Evidence of a struggle. Her front door was broken, glass was shattered on the floor, and there was blood. Furthermore, Miss Hunter, was nowhere to be found.”

“Okay. And?” Again, Troy didn't want to elaborate.

“Will you consent to giving us a blood sample to compare with what we found at her house?”

“Of course, if you have a warrant, but I'm guessing you don't, which is why you are asking so nicely, right?”

“Are you saying that the person in the background of the nine-one-one call isn't you? What about this?”

Troy's stomach dropped to the pit of his feet when Nugent played a recording of the angry and deeply disturbing message Troy had left for Cheryl Saturday evening after leaving his wife standing in her lingerie. In it, he called her out of her name several times and said, “I could kill you for this.”

“What did you mean by that?” inquired Nugent.

“Nothing. I was upset and sometimes people say things they don't mean when they're angry.” Deep down, Troy had meant every word in that recording. “You of all people should know how it is to run off at the mouth and say something stupid, especially to an attractive woman.”

Troy found some twisted pleasure in watching Nugent turn red. Back in the early 2000s, there had been a sexual harassment accusation against Nugent by one female personnel worker who said that he consistently made crude and inappropriate comments to her. There was an investigation, but nothing came of it because of the lack of evidence supporting her claims. Plus, she had some other personal issues that made her allegations questionable. Nevertheless, the whole thing was embarrassing to the department, and Nugent's second marriage couldn't withstand the strain.

“You think you're funny, don't you, Evans? I'll be the one laughing when you're behind bars with inmates who can't wait to get their hands on a fresh piece of former cop meat. I'm sure a nice-looking, well-built guy like yourself is the kind of eye candy those men have been waiting for.”

“If I didn't know any better, I'd think you might want a piece of me yourself,” Troy replied cynically.

“I'm getting tired of this comedy act you're portraying. There's nothing humorous about playing with women's emotions. You broke her heart before and you were going to do it again this time after you finished having your fun, except she wasn't going away quietly. Shut up and tell me what you've done with Cheryl!”