Point of Attraction (20 page)

Roberts looked to his
partner.

“That’s okay,” Tonie said, scribbling
in her notebook. “And I’m fine here, thank you. She cut my hair,”
she told Roberts.

“Mrs. Gainsworth,” Roberts started out.
“Do you have any idea who would do this?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but
Nick burst out with, “I fucking told you who did this!”

Georgie saw Roberts’ pleading look to
Mason, and she reached for Nick to calm him down, but he jerked as
if to pull away, then leaned into her instead. “You know it was
Jeffrey.”

Mason shifted on his feet. “Nick. Let’s
do this by the book. First, we narrow down the field...”

“Yeah, and while
you’re
narrowing down
the field,” Nick shot back, “the little fucker is hightailing
it out of town.”

“That is a possibility,” Mason said to
Roberts. “It appears the man never came home last
night.”

Roberts raised his dark brown eyes and
leveled their trained patience on Mason as he asked, “And you know
this because?”

It was a mere flicker of a pause, but
that flitting silence solidified, until Mason spoke. “We took a
drive to his place last night.”

The change in Mason’s voice was slight,
but Georgie heard it, and she realized just how out of the
policeman’s rule Mason had stepped by going with her and
Nick.

Roberts slapped shut his notebook and
leaned forward, facial muscles tight. Georgie didn’t think his eyes
could get any more piercing, but they did.

“I need to speak with you outside,” he
said to Mason, but Georgie quickly reached up to keep Mason where
he was.

“Please, Officer Roberts, Mason and
Nick did nothing wrong,” Georgie said, and added, “I made sure they
did nothing out of order.”

The wooden chair complained as Roberts
sat back full weight in the seat, his face a flashing neon sign of
annoyed frustration, if not flat out anger. His eyebrow shot
straight up. “Well this just gets better and better, doesn’t
it.”

When Georgie heard Tonie
let out a small whistle, she knew she’d put Mason’s foot in even
deeper. She and Nick had dragged Mason into a bad place, and now
she had added to that blunder. Great. No matter what she said now,
it would only add more dirt to the grave. Even in thought, the
word,
grave
, sent
a chill up her spine.

“Just so I’m clear on
this,” Roberts said, his voice hiding none of the anger now, yet he
remained strangely composed. “You, a
police officer
already on
administrative leave, took two civilians to the house of a possibly
dangerous suspect? Didn’t call the police, no back up, no warrant.”
His sigh was deep. “Just took it upon yourself to take matters into
your own hands.”

“At that time there was no probable
cause...” Mason stopped. Even to Georgie, the argument sounded
shallow this evening.

Though nothing about Roberts had
changed, Georgie could feel the heat of all that Roberts was
holding in.

“When did this become more about a cop
on administrative leave and less about a guy on his way to becoming
a deadly threat to Georgie Girl here?” Nick asked.

Her Nick backed down for no
one, Georgie thought, but she wondered if Roberts even heard Nick,
his attention was so set on Mason now. It was difficult for her to
believe this was the same person Mason considered a
good man
? Then she
remembered Mason the morning he came into her shop; and like Mason,
this Roberts was a police officer first, Mason’s co-worker
second.

“Montgomery,” Roberts finally said,
“stupid isn’t your style, but this...”

Mason’s body tensed against her as he
let out a gush of air, his fingers almost hurtful as they curled
slightly, almost a grip, then loosened to a caress.

“We had no plate number, not even a
letter,” Mason explained.

“Just a dark colored Durango,” Nick
added, “and a mighty pissed-off guy who owns one.”

“Just what were we suppose
to call in?” Mason asked, mockery accenting his question. “That
we’re
certain
this guy’s the one?” He pointed to himself and Nick. “Hell,
we’re in love with the guy for all this.”

“
All
this?” Roberts asked. Finally,
Georgie saw a flicker of surprise in the man’s dark eyes. “Okay.
I’m missing a step in time-line. What am I not getting here?” he
pressed. “I thought we were talking about the doll impaled to the
tree up the road. Now you’re talking dark Durangos and
plates?”

Georgie felt Mason take a deep breath
to say something, probably retell the tale starting with the rose,
but hadn’t it really started with Raggs? Nick darted forward in his
chair, both arms on the table.

“Officer Clark,” Nick said to Tonie.
“Can we have some privacy here?”

“She’s fine,” Roberts said, but Nick
held up a hand, asking for patience.

“I want what we are about
to tell you
off
the record... for a while,” Nick said. “The less ears that
hear this, the better. Officer Clark?” He motioned for Tonie to
step outside.

Georgie wanted to say it was fine if
she stayed, but if Nick felt this strongly about it, and Mason was
not objecting, they must have a reason. One blabbering outburst on
her part was enough.

Tonie looked to Mason then to her
present partner, and probably ranking officer at the moment. When
neither man offered a protest, and Roberts motioned her out,
Georgie saw and felt Tonie’s anger as she shut her notebook with a
smack and literally stomped out of the room. At Tonie’s slamming of
the door, Roberts’ eyes settled on Mason.

No one said anything for a moment,
until Mason spoke. “Bear with us here,” he told Roberts, “then you
decide what’s relevant or not.” He tapped Georgie’s shoulder. “Go
ahead.”

Georgie swallowed the lump in her
throat and thought back. “I guess I have to say it started with the
theft of Raggs, my Raggedy Ann Doll, this past Wednesday
night.”

Nick stepped in and told what he
suspected was going on; the rose, smudged footprints in the yard,
Daisy’s strange behavior, ending with tonight. Now it was Roberts’
turn to take a deep breath after reading over his notes. When he
looked up, he stared straight into her eyes. While Mason’s gray hue
had quickly prompted Georgie to easily spill out her thoughts,
Roberts’s look was demanding it. Instinctively, she bristled and
stared right back.

“Do
you
think it’s this Jeffrey
Sanders?” he asked her, his sharp demeanor now reined in. “Do you
think he’s a stalker on his way to turning lethal?”

Do I
, Georgie thought? Did she really think Jeffrey capable of
stealing Raggs? Putting a rose on her windshield? Prowling around
her house and peeking in her windows? Would he...
could
he do that to
Raggs? A shiver rippled through her and she reached for Mason’s
hand and Nick’s.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Mason and
Nick, then looked at Roberts. “But everything in me says...
no.”

“Georgie Girl!” Nick said, tossing up
his hands and bringing them down with a slap to his
thighs.

Even Mason let go as he dropped down on
one knee to look up into her face.

“I’ve known Jeffrey for twenty years,”
she reasoned. “Why would he do this now? Why?”

“Think about it!” Nick told
her.

“I am!” she bit back, then calmed down.
“Why now? Why all of a sudden, and to such extreme?”

“Georgie Girl, I sometimes wonder what
the fuck holds your ears apart?” Nick snapped, giving her head a
poke, and she slapped at his hand.

“Can you talk to me without using that
word?” But she knew he didn’t hear her. He had that bone in his
mouth. You just didn’t take a bone from a Pit Bull, no matter how
hard she wanted this to go away.

“While Sam was alive there was never
any chance for him,” Nick said. “But Sam died, Georgie Girl. He
died. And for three years Jeffrey’s waited and he finally asks you
out. And what happens?”

“Nothing happens. We had two dinners.
They weren’t dates. Even if he thought them dates, nothing came of
it.”

“Yes, nothing came of it,” Nick said,
his voice saddened, “but you know what? Unfortunately for Jeffrey,
Dudley Do-Right entered the scene and Jeffrey’s little dream
soured. No third try.”

“But what about the neighbors saying he
was seeing someone?”

Nick shook his head. “If not for Dudley
Do-Right here, I think it would be you they were talking
about.”

She wanted to shake her
head, deny it, make it not real, but she couldn’t. Mason
had
entered her
life.

“I gather
Dudley Do-Right
is you?”
Roberts pointed at Mason, not expecting an answer. “Once more
leaving this Jeffrey out in the cold.” He leaned back in his seat,
hand rubbing his chin. “I’ve seen rejected lovers go deadly on less
than that. It wouldn’t hurt to have a talk with this Jeffrey. No
harm in that.”

“But...” Georgie tried to explain, but
there was no argument she could offer.

“You,” Roberts pointed at Nick, “will
not be going with us. I don’t want a hot head jamming up the works.
I’ve never had a case thrown out of court because of any bad police
work done by me or mine. It’s not going to happen this time. Are we
clear on this?”

For a second, Georgie thought Nick was
going to argue. He and Roberts were in a duel of glares... but to
her surprise, Nick nodded.

“Montgomery, you can ride along, but
that’s all. You say nothing. If the guy speaks to you, you don’t
answer, not even a nod.”

“Got it,” Mason said.

Georgie watched as Roberts rose to his
feet. He had to be as tall if not taller than Mason. Younger?
Maybe, maybe not. Georgie looked to Roberts’ shoulder. He had
stripes, but his seniority over Mason needed no
stripes...

Roberts walked out, while Mason stayed.
He was still on his knee, looking up at her. It took a moment
before his mouth pulled at one corner. “We’ve stepped slightly out
of the calm eye of the storm, haven’t we, George.”

He rose, pressed his lips to her
forehead, then pointed at Nick. “Don’t leave her alone.”

Chapter seventeen

“How am I going to keep all this from
Paula?” Georgie asked. “Steven can take it. But I worry about Paula
and the baby.” She couldn’t help remembering when she almost lost
Steven during her first pregnancy.

Nick ran his fingers through her hair
and gave her that soft shake he’d done through all the years they’d
known each other. “With that bright yellow police crime-scene tape
all over those trees, people will notice and it could hit the news.
Better she hear it before hand.” She heard the frustration in his
sharp breath. “I’ll call Cassie,” he said. “She’ll know best how to
tell Paula. She’ll be okay. Paula’s stronger than you think,
Georgie Girl, but if she goes hysterical, Cassie can do her doctor
thing with her.”

While Nick punched in Cassie’s number,
Georgie looked in the refrigerator and pulled out the container of
orange juice. There was almost enough, she thought, and got herself
a glass.

“Hey, April,” Nick was saying. “Sorry
to call so late. I need to talk to Cassie.”

Georgie poured the juice into the glass
and took out her tequila. She didn’t even bother to measure in
shots nor did she add ice. Leaning against the counter she swirled
the contents as she listened to Nick’s voice. Strange, she thought.
As he told the story, it didn’t sound so bad, very benign, just
another of his travel-tales... until he came to Raggs.

Georgie turned away to look out her
window. Lights flickered through the wind-tormented shrubbery and
trees at the top of the slope.

The police doing their job, she
thought, and forced down the liquid before turning back to
Nick.

“Well, what the fuck do you
think I was doing?” he was saying, holding out the phone to stare
at it, then put it back to his ear. “I was the one who found her.
Yes, we called the cops. Think I’m an idiot? Damn.” He nodded,
mouth opening as he struggled to get a word in, failing and tried
again before finally succeeding. “Mason and I are pretty sure who
did it, but your
Pollyanna
friend here doesn’t agree.”

Georgie took another swallow, wishing
she could feel the bite of the tequila, wash away the last three
days, erase this evening, but when Nick said, “Jeffrey Sanders,”
she knew there was no doing away with any of it.

“What...” He took a breath, nodding at
something Cassie was saying, then interrupted. “What we need is for
you to go to Paula’s and tell her what I told you.” Again, he
nodded, his hand motioning an unseen plea to Cassie. “How the hell
do I know. You’re the doctor. Think of something.”