Shadow of Death (15 page)

“Nothing.”

“The evidence says you did?”

“You're using that term rather loosely, don't you think?”

“You left a threatening message on her voicemail, witnesses put you at her house this morning, and you are heard screaming at her during a terrifying nine-one-one call. To top it all off, you're the last person who admits to seeing her today. Call me crazy, but that all sounds like evidence to me.”

Troy returned the sneer that Nugent gave him. “Am I under arrest?”

“Not yet.”

“In that case, we're done here.”

•  •  •

Natalie lay in bed, but couldn't sleep a wink. Troy had left with the other officers and she hadn't a clue what was going on or why they were questioning him about Cheryl. Troy had seen her this morning. Worse, he'd gone to her house! All of this
after
Natalie had confronted him about their affair. That was the part that Troy had conveniently left out when she'd asked him where he'd been all day.

“With Robert.”
That had been his explanation and she foolishly was going to believe him. In the time that they had known Lisa and RJ, to her knowledge, Troy had never hung out with RJ except for the times Natalie dragged him to the Wise Wives meetings to do so. Now, all of a sudden, RJ had become his alibi.

Her suspicions could be verified with a simple phone call or text to the Hamptons, but it was after 11:00 and Natalie wouldn't contact them for something this trivial. Besides, she had no doubt that Troy had seen RJ, and perhaps Lisa, at some point during the day. She was sure that he'd spent just enough time with them to make his story legit. The fact was that after she left him this morning, he went straight to Cheryl.
I saw a lady…
And sometime during the day, he and Cheryl were here.

As Natalie lay in the bed, a feeling of disgust came over her. Had Cheryl been in her bed?
Their bed?
Natalie was so hurt that tears no longer were an option. Needing to feel valued by someone, Natalie reached out to her eldest daughter with a text.
“143,”
she wrote. It stood for “I love you.” She wasn't sure how the text linguistics got those three words from those three numbers, but ever since Corrine had educated her on its meaning, Natalie used that special code only with her daughter. She grinned when, a few minutes later, Corrine replied,
“1432.”

Seconds later, Natalie was startled by an unexpected call from Aneetra. Natalie welcomed the interruption and took the opportunity to rectify the rift from earlier. “Hey, Nee. I'm sorry about what I said.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever, I forgive you and it's squashed. Are you watching the news?”

“No. Why?”

“There's a story on about Cheryl I think you need to see.”

Cheryl was the last person in the world she wanted to know more about, but the urgency in Aneetra's voice made Natalie curious. Luckily, the cable box was already set on a news station and when Natalie turned on the television, she caught the tail end of the story. Thanks to digital cable, she was able to rewind it to the beginning.

“Police are investigating the mysterious disappearance of former FBI agent Cheryl Hunter. Earlier today, Hunter made an emergency nine-one-one call claiming that her boyfriend was trying to kill her for revealing details of their affair to his wife. We have learned that Hunter was dating a Columbus police detective, but officials are not releasing his name because he's not been charged with any crime at this point. Officers responded to the nine-one-one call within minutes. When they got to Hunter's home, she was missing and there were clear signs that a
struggle had taken place. Officers have taken the detective in for question
ing, but he has not been charged. We learned that Cheryl Hunter had been an FBI agent for over twenty years until last year when her employment was terminated for reasons the agency has not disclosed. If you
know anything about the disappearance of former FBI agent Cheryl Hunter
, please call the Columbus Police at 614-555-TIPS. You can remain anonymous. We'll be sure to keep you posted as more details emerge.”

“They think Troy did something to her.” Natalie, finally putting things together, told Aneetra about the officers that had come to their home. “He admitted to being at her house this morning. Nee, he had scratches on his face and his shirt was ripped! Oh, my gosh, what's happening to my family!” Immediately she started to get choked up.

“Calm down. I'm on my way.”

Natalie wanted to thank Aneetra for her kindness and unmatched friendship, but she couldn't speak. Her tears had taken over.

T
roy left the station feeling empty and even a little scared. He'd never been in any kind of trouble. He was certain that he would ultimately be cleared of whatever it was that Cheryl was trying to set him up for, but he wasn't sure what the entire ordeal would cost him. His marriage? His job? He could handle the latter much more than the former. Losing his family would mean losing everything.

Troy wandered around the city for what seemed like hours. He wanted to go home and yet knew he wouldn't be welcomed. Natalie had not tried to contact him once since he'd left. He'd been so close to comforting her and now he had to start over from zero. Actually, he likely had to work his way up from being in the negative. Zero would be relief right.

Though it was well after midnight, Troy reached out via text to Richard and he called back within seconds. “I'm sorry to bother you so late. I hope I didn't wake you.”

“No. I was up going over my trial notes. What's wrong? Are the kids okay?”

“Yeah, they're fine. I'm not.” Troy gave him the synoptic version of all that had taken place with Cheryl over the last two years, but described, in extended detail, the events that had recently transpired. Troy, knowing how much Richard disdained adultery, made sure to stress that he had never done anything inappropriate with Cheryl. Richard had been married once, a long time ago, before meeting and dating Natalie's mom. Troy didn't know him then, but the story he'd heard from Natalie was that Richard's ex-wife had been a chronic adulterer.

“Nugent's a prick. You should have never spoken to him without an attorney,” Richard scolded.

“I know. I wasn't thinking. I had no idea that Cheryl would pull this stunt. She's trying to make it seem like I did something to her.”

“You did the right thing by not answering the question regarding whether or not things got physical between the two of you. Let's hope this all ends soon, but if not, you need legal representation. Obviously, I can't represent you, but I know an excellent defense attorney who makes me scared to go up against him in court. His name is Lawrence Murphy. He's a good guy who doesn't take a case unless he believes the client is innocent.” Richard gave Troy Mr. Murphy's information. “I'll call him first thing in the morning to tell him about you. Make sure you contact him as well.”

“Will do. Thank you.”

“How's Natalie taking all of this?”

“Not good. She's not convinced of my innocence regarding the affair.”

“Give her time. She'll get there. For what it's worth, I believe you.”

“Thanks, man. That means a lot.”

When Troy hung up the phone, he contemplated making one more phone call, knowing it would involve a good old-fashioned tongue-lashing once he told her everything. It wasn't necessary that he inform her, but since she normally called Natalie more than him, he certainly didn't want her hearing his wife's version of things. Either way, Troy knew he would get cussed out. “Might as well get this over with,” he said aloud, bracing himself for the inevitable. His call was answered on the first ring.

•  •  •

“Do you want me to call the station and see if I can find out any information about what's going on with Troy?” Aneetra offered. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning and the two were laid up in Natalie and Troy's bed like teenage girls at a sleepover except there were no movies or popcorn to go with the occasion, only fear and tears.

Natalie shook her head no. She was married to a cop. She knew interrogations could last forever. “Troy will call when he can.” So many unanswered questions ran through her mind. “Do you think he did something to her for real? Even if we're not together, I don't want him to be locked up,” she bawled.

“Shh. Don't start thinking the worst. You're stressing yourself out. For all we know, it could be another officer she pulled this stunt with as well. Besides, the news reported that no one has been charged with anything, so Troy's obviously not going to be locked up.”

“They were here to talk to him about her,
not
to involve his help with finding her. When I asked him about his scratches and shirt, he admitted that he'd lost his temper. I know he was mad because Cheryl told me about them.”

“Okay, but you still can't be so melodramatic. One minute you're spitting fire because you think he had an affair; the next you're crying a river because you're afraid he'll be in jail. I know this isn't easy, but don't let your emotions take over. Personally, I think that if Troy went over there, it wasn't to confront her for telling you about their affair; it was because she was lying. Natalie, that man loves you. If he says that he didn't mess around with her, I'd be willing to bet money that he's telling the truth.”

“But the pictures—”

“I don't care about those pictures. We live in a digital age. Anything can be made to look like something. Shoot, with the right tools, someone could show a picture of me with flat abs, a Kim Kardashian booty, and hair as long as silky as yours.”

“I appreciate what you're trying to do, Nee, but let's face it. Karma is coming back to bite me for all the wives I've done wrong.”

“Oh, see, now I know you're trippin' because last time I checked, you believed in the grace given to us by Jesus, not karma. That's a bunch of crap.”

“The Bible does say that we reap what we sow. I'm being real and accepting the fact that I did some shady stuff back in the day that is now coming back to haunt me. It was bound to happen.”

Aneetra gave Natalie a look like she wanted to smack her. “Girl, you have lost your mind to be thinking that way. God hasn't been sitting around waiting to orchestrate circumstances so you can get back things that you've done in the past. You've repented and have been forgiven. He's over it; you're the only one still hanging on to it. I don't know what Bible you're reading, but mine says that He throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness. That's grace, sweetheart; not karma.”

Natalie was not in the mood for Bible study. She knew about grace and forgiveness. She also was aware that when something walked like a duck and quacked like a duck, one should call it a duck and not a chicken. “Okay, whatever. The fact of the matter is that Troy hasn't denied it's him in the pictures.”

“That's because he's probably as confused as you are. Look, all I'm saying is relax a little. I believe God will bring clarity to this whole thing. Quit all that karma talk and have a little faith, will you?”

Faith?
Did Natalie even have that anymore? If so, what was she believing—that God would take care of her and the kids if she and Troy split or if he went to jail? She hadn't a clue what to believe when it came to her marriage. She wanted to believe in it, but there was too much evidence pointing against it. When her cell phone rang, she'd hoped it would be Troy only because she wanted to know what was happening. However, from the sound of the personalized ringtone, she knew it was her mother-in-law, Diane.

“You want me to answer it?”

“Yes, please,” she responded to Aneetra, buying some time to get her emotions together. Natalie and Diane spoke regularly, at least once at week. It hadn't always been like this, but ever since Natalie transitioned from a working mom to a full-time caregiver, Diane had started calling more than she used to. Occasionally, Diane would say something to irk Natalie's nerves and, as a result, Natalie would avoid talking to her for a week or two, but that didn't happen too often as each had started to become aware of the other's limits. Their conversations generally involved the kids and usually took place during the daytime. Diane never called this late unless something was wrong and Natalie tried to brace herself for whatever it was that her mother-in-law had to share.

“No, this is Aneetra. Natalie's right here. Hold one sec.” Aneetra turned to Natalie, covering the cell phone speaker with her hand. “You good?”

Natalie wasn't sure if she had the capacity to handle any more bad news, but she shook her head anyway and grabbed the phone. “Hey, Di, is everything okay?”

“No! Why didn't you tell me about Troy and this FBI lady?”

On one hand, Natalie was relieved that Diane wasn't calling to report a family catastrophe. On the other, she was immediately irritated by her mother-in-law's tone. Already this seemed a like conversation that would ultimately result in a two-week phone strike. “I didn't know anything until this morning and quite frankly, I didn't feel like talking about it.”

“Well, I guess I can understand that. I just got off the phone with Troy. He's upset about what happened, obviously, but I told him that he needed to be there with you. He should be on his way home. How are you doin'?”

“I've been better. So, I take it that he's admitted everything to you?”

“If by ‘admitted,' you mean he confessed to an affair, then no, but he told me how much trouble that woman has caused for y'all.” Not one to tame her tongue or sugarcoat her feelings, Diane went on to profanely express how angry she was about the entire situation, how she wanted to beat both Troy and Cheryl—him for being so stupid and not saying anything about what he'd been going through, her for trying to be a home-wrecker. “I know you're pissed right now, but you need to get over how you feel and open your eyes to what's really goin' on. Troy didn't cheat on you with that woman. That heffa is tryin' to break y'all up. Don't be foolish and fall into her trap by pushin' him away.”