Mean Streak(76)

“In my book, he’s still an *.”

“You won’t get an argument from me.” Knight stood up, stretched his back, and pulled on his coat. “Chicken and dumplings are calling my name.”

“So, case closed?”

“The missing person ain’t no longer missing, Buddy.”

“That much is true.”

Sensing his partner’s reluctance to call it quits, Knight propped his butt against the edge of his desk. “You want to arrest Dr. Charbonneau for creating a false alarm when she’s got two medically documented head injuries?”

“No.”

“Good. Because no prosecutor would touch it. Aside from being a lousy liar, she’s as stable and sane a person as I’ve ever met.”

“Agreed.”

“So what would’ve been her motive for staging a disappearance?”

“Attention? Celebrity?”

“Doesn’t need it,” Knight said. “She’s already got all the attention in the world focused on her and her good deeds.”

“Retribution on somebody?”

“Besides her cheating husband, you mean? And we don’t even know if she’s onto his cheating. She has no known enemies. We’ve yet to find anybody who has a bad word to say about her. Even Dr. Butler, her husband’s lover, sings Emory’s praises. Tell me what she had to gain by pulling such a stunt.”

“Not a damn thing,” Grange said. “Which makes lying about it all the more peculiar. If she didn’t devise this scheme, she shouldn’t have to lie. But she is. Why?”

“Shit. Right back to my original question.” Knight dragged his hand down his face, and when Grange was about to speak, he beat him to the punch. “I’m with you, I’m with you. We’re missing something.”

“What do you think it is?”

“Beats the hell out of me. I just hope that when and if it rears its ugly head, it’s not too ugly.”

*





Jeff looked at Emory’s untouched dinner tray. “I don’t blame you. It doesn’t look all that appetizing. Would you like for me to go out and bring something back for you?”

“I’m not hungry, but thank you for offering.”

He wheeled the tray aside so he could sit on the edge of her bed. As always he was perfectly groomed, but she could tell that he was almost as weary as she. The past four days had been harrowing for him, although each time she apologized for the hell he’d been put through, he assured her that his tribulations were forgotten the instant he heard her voice coming through his phone and knew that she was all right.

“What about your dinner?” she asked.

“I’ll grab something.”

“You should have let Alice and Neal take you out before they left for Atlanta.”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone. Besides, I think they were relieved I didn’t accept the invitation. They were anxious to head back before it got any later. Alice was going to follow Neal in your car.”

Jeff had asked one of them to drive it back to Atlanta so Emory could ride with him tomorrow.

Before leaving, Alice had sneaked her the EC kit as promised. She’d told Emory she didn’t expect her to have any side effects, but got her promise to call if she did. Alice had also tactfully reminded her that while the pills could prevent pregnancy, they didn’t prevent STDs.

Jeff snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Are you with me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“I was telling you that I remembered to get your duffel bag and boots out of the trunk of your car before Alice left. Everything’s in the closet, including your laptop, which the sheriff’s office returned. They also gave me my pistol back.”

“Pistol?”

“Just a formality, I was told. But I’m sure they checked it for recent firing.” He gave a snarky smile. “Joke’s on them, isn’t it?”

“I fail to see the humor.”

“So do I. Thank God this ordeal is over for both of us.” He took her hand and clasped it between his. “Emory, I won’t press you to know where you were or what you were doing after Saturday morning.”

“Jeff—”

“No, don’t say anything. I don’t want to place you in a position of having to lie to me. The fact is, whatever transpired, I deserved it. I’ve been a bastard. On the best days, I’ve been withdrawn. On the worst, I’ve been difficult and often downright impossible.”

He paused as though giving her a chance to dispute that. When she didn’t, he continued. “You know how badly I wanted that partnership. There have been other disappointments as well.”

“I can’t endorse that drug, Jeff. Perhaps—”

“This isn’t about that. I swear. What I’m trying to say is that these letdowns are no excuse for the way I’ve behaved, for the way I’ve treated you.”

“I didn’t set out to punish you.”

“All right, I’ll accept that,” he said, but with a notable lack of conviction. “What I want you to know is that it took almost losing you for me to realize how vital you are to my happiness. No, not just to my happiness. To my life. I want us to make a fresh start. I want—”