Obsession (16 page)

“Brad.” She laid a hand on his arm. “Please, listen to me. Abe has nothing to do with my indecision about selling the agency. And as far as the autopsy, yes, he suggested it, but simply because it's the only possible way to prove what really happened to Dad. That doesn't make him dangerous, and it doesn't make the idea crazy either. There really is no other way, can't you see that?”

“What I see,” Brad answered, his hazel eyes growing hard, “is that this phony detective is using your father's death to try to get to you. He's twisting your thinking and playing on your emotions, and I don't like it one bit. You've always been so sensible, Toni. What kind of hold does this guy have on you that he can turn you around so completely? Are you blind? Can't you see he's just leading you on, dragging this thing out any way he can to buy himself more time to win you over? And from the looks of things, he's doing a pretty good job.” He shook his head. “I can't believe you're falling for it. I just can't believe it.”

“Brad, that's not it. Really. It's not like that at all. Abe suggested the autopsy because there was no other way to prove how my father died. The only reason I didn't tell you about this sooner is because I wanted to think about it for a while before deciding what to do. Then
April came to town and we got to talking and decided to go see Dr. Jensen together, to try to persuade him to help us, but he refused and—”

Brad interrupted her again. “Do you blame him? What did you expect? It's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard. I'm glad somebody had the good sense to talk you out of this.”

“Actually, I… I'm planning to go ahead with it, that is, if Dr. Jensen can help me get the court order. He called earlier and said he'd thought it over and would see what he could do to help.”

Brad stared at her without speaking, his courtroom face now firmly in place. Toni wondered what was going on behind his emotionless mask. When he finally spoke, she knew he had made up his mind, and there was no use trying to change it.

“I'm going to say this just once. I believe I've been very patient with your obsession over your father's death and some imagined connection with Julie Greene. I've been more than patient about putting off setting a wedding date. I've even been patient about this Matthews guy who has repeatedly stuck his nose into our business and disrupted our lives. But I'm through waiting patiently. Do you understand? I'm not insisting that you set a wedding date if you're not ready, but I am insisting that you drop your involvement with this detective. I want him out of your life—out of
our
lives—once and for all. Is that clear?”

“But, Brad, he's only trying to help…”

“The only thing Abe Matthews is trying to help is himself—to my fiancée. Well, it's not going to happen, do you hear me? You're going to have to make a choice, Toni. Him or me. It's as simple as that.” He stood up and looked down at her. “Call me when you've made up your mind.” The back door slammed behind him as he went back into the house. In less than a minute, she heard him start his Lexus and pull away.

Her head was spinning as she slowly rose from the swing and opened the door. She had forgotten April Lippincott was there until
she walked into the living room and saw her sitting on the couch where she had left her only minutes earlier.

April looked at Toni questioningly. “I assume he didn't take it very well.”

Toni shook her head. “Not at all.” Plunking down on the couch next to April, she sighed. “How did things get turned upside down like this? A couple of months ago, I thought I knew exactly where my life was headed. With all those years of college finally behind me, I was going to try to get a teaching job and start planning my wedding. But now… I just don't know what to think.”

The front door opened then, and Melissa and Carrie walked in. They were uncharacteristically quiet.

“What happened?” Melissa asked. “Did Brad forget the charcoal? We saw him driving away just now.”

Toni looked from the girls to April, then back again.

“Excuse me,” April said, lifting herself off the couch. “Carrie, would you come out back with me for a few minutes? It's such a nice evening, and I thought maybe you and I could spend a little time getting better acquainted.”

Carrie hesitated, looking confused. “Yeah, sure. I guess so,” she said, following April into the kitchen. When they were gone, Melissa fixed her eyes on her older sister.

“What is it? What happened? Is it you and Brad? Did you break up?”

Toni patted the couch beside her. “Sit down.”

Melissa joined her. As Toni took a moment to steady herself and plan her words, Melissa grabbed her arm. “It's that Abe Matthews, isn't it? He's causing problems between you and Brad. I knew that was going to happen.”

“No. Not really. He's involved, but—”

“I knew it. I knew it! I wish you'd never met him. I wish he'd never come to Dad's office and messed up our lives. Wasn't it bad enough that Dad died? Now we're going to lose Brad too.”

“Melissa, honey, please. Calm down. It's not at all what you think.”

“Then what is it?” Melissa was crying now, and Toni felt as if she might join her any minute. She decided she had better say what needed to be said and get this thing settled before it got any worse.

“It's about Dad. I've… decided to try to have his body exhumed for an autopsy.”

Melissa recoiled, drawing her hand away from Toni's arm as her green eyes opened wide. “An autopsy? You mean… cut Dad open?”

“Sweetheart, if there were any other way…”

“Any other way for what? Why do you want to do this? Why?”

“Because I… I think maybe Dad didn't die quite like the coroner and Dr. Jensen thought he did.”

Melissa looked thoroughly confused. “You don't think he had a heart attack? I don't understand.”

“You know that Dad was trying to help Mrs. Lippincott find her granddaughter, Julie, when he died, don't you?”

Melissa nodded slowly. “Yes, but—”

“Abe and I—and Mrs. Lippincott—think maybe Dad was getting too close to finding Julie, and that somebody…” Her voice trailed off as she searched desperately for a gentle way to voice her suspicions. There seemed to be none, so she plunged ahead.

“We think that—”

Before she could finish, Melissa jumped up from the couch. “You think Dad was… killed? Murdered?”

“I think it's possible. Yes.”

Once again, Melissa began to shake her head. “No. No, it's not possible. Dad was not murdered. He had a heart attack. Dr. Jensen said so, and he knows more than you or that stupid Abe Matthews. It's his fault, isn't it? They're going to cut my father open because of him. I hate him. I hate him!” She spun on her heel and ran out of the room.

When Toni heard the bedroom door slam shut, she leaned her head back on the couch, letting the tears spill over onto her cheeks.
Oh, God,
she prayed silently.
Where are you in all of this? What is going to become of us? What do I do now?

“Abe! Abe Matthews, is that you?”

Abe turned at the sound of the familiar female voice. The attractive redhead was standing halfway up the flight of stairs behind him, carrying a sack of groceries. How long had it been? One year? Two?

“Karen. What are you doing here?”

“I live here. Just moved in last week. Don't tell me you live here too.”

“For about six months now. What about you? When did you get back into town?”

“A couple of weeks ago. I decided big-city life just wasn't for me. So I got my job back at the restaurant, and here I am.” She shifted her groceries. “Listen, why don't you come on up? Have you had dinner? I could fix a salad, maybe an omelet…”

“Oh… thanks, but I need to, uh… take a shower and unwind. It's been a long day and I'm really tired.”

Karen flashed a smile. “No problem. Listen, you go on home, and I'll get some things together and be over in a flash. That way you won't even have to leave the house. I'll bring dinner to you. You shower, I'll cook, and we can spend the evening together—just like old times. Which apartment is yours?”

“Nineteen. But—”

“See you in a few,” she called, turning to run up the stairs to her apartment.

Abe sighed. Karen never was much of a listener, not exactly a deep thinker either. But then, he reminded himself, he hadn't dated her for her mind. He shook his head as he made his way to number nineteen.
How do I get myself into these things? It's not like I was looking for it.
There was a time I would have welcomed the company
—
and anything that went with it. But now…

He unlocked the door and let himself inside. The spacious one-bedroom, ground-level apartment was sparsely decorated, not because he couldn't afford more, but because he just wasn't much for “knickknacks,” as he referred to anything from wall hangings to porcelain statues. Flipping on the living room light, he went into the kitchen for a cold soda, then checked his answering machine by the phone next to his recliner for messages. There were none, a fact that brought mixed emotions. He was glad he didn't have to return any unwanted calls but disappointed that Toni hadn't phoned—not that he had really expected her to. She had never called him at home in spite of the fact that he had given her his number and encouraged her to do so any time. Still, there was always the chance….

He hadn't seen Toni all week, although he had called and talked with her on the phone a couple of times. He considered calling her again, even though he had nothing new to report, but before he could pick up the receiver, his doorbell rang.

He did a double take when he opened the door and saw Karen standing there, dressed in very short, very tight cutoff jeans and a revealing halter top. And just as she had been when he had seen her standing on the stairwell near her apartment a few minutes earlier, she was carrying a sack of groceries.

Abe forced a smile. Even though they had dated a few times a year or so before—”old times,” as she called it—he had never been more than mildly interested. Karen, however, had always made it abundantly clear that she was quite interested—and quite available. And, although he wasn't very proud of it, he had taken advantage of her availability. Now, as he stood there, wishing he could think of some gracious way to get rid of her, he realized that a lot of guys would have envied him such a problem.

“Hungry?” she asked, stepping inside before he could invite her. “I am. I had the day off today, so I'm really looking forward to fixing us
a nice meal. Why don't you go ahead and jump in the shower, and I'll get started? It'll be fun catching up on the last year, won't it?”

Abe doubted that but decided he might as well let her go ahead and cook dinner, especially since she had already invited herself in and was walking toward the kitchen with her groceries. Once dinner was over and they had “caught up,” he was definitely going to have to set her straight on some things.

The warm water eased his tired muscles as he stood with his head directly under the nozzle and let the soothing streams wash down his face and body. It had been a long day—a long week, in fact. However, as busy as he had been, he had never stopped thinking of Toni, wondering what she was doing and whether or not she was thinking of him, hoping she wasn't getting any closer to making those final wedding plans with Brad. He looked for reasons to call her but restrained himself from doing so as often as he would have liked. With nothing new to report on her father, he was hard pressed to find a believable excuse for phoning her more than every two or three days. Even then, it was difficult to maintain a businesslike attitude. Occasionally he got away with slipping in a teasing remark about their “partnership,” but the minute he stepped over the line, even slightly, she pulled back. How he longed to tell her what was really in his heart, but he knew if he pushed too hard, too fast, he could lose her completely.

Stepping out of the shower, he toweled dry and slipped into a pullover sports shirt and jeans. If it hadn't been for Karen, he probably would have spent the evening sitting around in his robe and watching TV, but he wasn't about to wear anything that might encourage her in any way. This was one relationship he intended to end before it got started.

He looked in the mirror.
You're slipping, old man. There was a time you would have relished a situation like this. It's pretty obvious why she's here. If only it were Toni instead of Karen…

As he opened the bathroom door, he heard Karen's voice. “I'm sorry, he's in the shower right now. Can I take a message?”

He frowned. What was she doing answering his phone? He should have made it clear to her that any calls that came in should go on the answering machine.

“Toni Matthews? Sure, I'll let him know you called just as soon as—”

He grabbed the phone out of her hand before she could finish her sentence. “Toni? What's up? Are you OK?”

“Abe? Your… friend… said you were in the shower.”

“I was, but…” Silently, Abe cursed his timing. How would he explain this? Not that he owed her an explanation. She, after all, was engaged to someone else. Still, the last thing in the world he wanted was to alienate her or give her any reason to resist her feelings for him and draw closer to Brad.