Happiness For H: Something In White
January 22 (part 4)
"Do sit down Emily, my great-aunt is right. So what have you been doing since say, New Year's Eve? Let me pull a chair out for you." The look on Josh's face could only be described as unpleasant as he pulled out a chair. The last thing she wanted to do was be anywhere near the man, but Mrs. Jenson was looking at her expectantly. Slowly, she moved over to the chair and sat down across from the elderly lady, shuddering as Josh's fingers ran along her ponytail and down her arm.
"Why Emily, you're shivering," Mrs. Jenson quickly poured her tea, passing the cup across the round table.
"Thank you," Emily accepted the cup, putting her hands around it to still their shaking more than anything. Thoughts of poison were spinning around in her head. She hoped Horatio was on his way. No matter how furious he would be with her, she'd rather deal with his anger and disappointment, than spend any time with Josh.
"Josh tells me congratulations are in order Emily, you and the Lieutenant are engaged." Mrs. Jenson sipped her tea, apparently not sensing the tension between the two younger people.
"Yes," Emily squeaked, not daring to look at Josh.
"So when is the big day?" the other woman asked conversationally.
"Yes, do tell." Josh smirked, and sipped his tea, loudly.
"We haven't decided yet, Mrs. Jenson." She shrunk back in her chair as he leaned over toward her, whispering loudly,
"You can drink the tea, you know. Great-auntie and I are both drinking it. Horatio won't have to watch an autopsy of your lifeless body as that medical examiner of his tries to figure out why you dropped over dead from tea!"
"OH!" Emily couldn't help the word bursting from her and she went another shade paler.
Horatio pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex, quickly locating the building where Emily had lived when they met. He had been listening to the conversation inside the apartment. His first priority was to get Emily out of there safely. His second was to get his hands on Josh until he could get Detective Tripp down here to drag Josh out of here and back to Miami-Dade.
"Will the wedding be here in Miami?" Mrs. Jenson was asking conversationally, seemingly oblivious to her great-nephew's comments.
"I don't know." Emily's voice, stronger now. "Mrs. Jenson, I'm not feeling very well. I think I'll just wait outside for Jean." As the elderly lady began to protest, Horatio heard Emily push back her chair saying,
"I think a little fresh air might do me good. Thank you for the tea." Beneath the table, Emily suddenly felt Josh's hand grab her wrist. Wide-eyed she looked at him,
"You're hurting me, Josh," she hissed. Cups and saucers clunked together as Mrs. Jenson began gathering up the tea things.
"I'll walk you to the door, Emily." Josh's voice was mild, but he only dug his fingers into her wrist harder as she tried to pull away from him.
It was still raining. Slipping quietly from the car, he ran quickly to the building. Once out of the rain, he listened to the conversation in the kitchen again, trying to get a feel for how things were going inside. While the element of surprise was on his side, he had no idea how Josh would react if cornered. The last thing Horatio wanted to do was put Emily in any more danger. He had no doubt that Josh would use Emily as a hostage if he felt threatened.
Josh kept hold of Emily's wrist as they walked out of the kitchen. As soon as they were out of sight of his great-aunt, Josh pushed Emily up against the wall. When she tried to push him away, he quickly grabbed her other wrist, laughing cruelly at her struggles.
"What if your great-aunt walks in?" Emily asked desperately, now very much afraid of what he was going to do.
"Oh, she won't. She'll be putzing around the kitchen for the next fifteen minutes. Getting a bit daft in the head, you know. She should have someone staying with her down here. I thought I might move in. After all, your boyfriend has made it almost impossible for me to go back home without answering a lot of questions."
"What makes you think he'll stay away from you down here?" Emily was cringing back against the wall, as Josh leaned closer, his body touching hers.
"I haven't done anything he can come after me for," Josh's voice was confident. "Though you should ask him if he's received anything interesting in the mail lately. That is, if you and he are still on speaking terms."
"What do you mean?" Emily's voice was bewildered. The guy has finally gone over the edge, she thought. Letting go of one of her hands, he grabbed her ponytail, forcing her head still.
"Of course when he kicks you out or you leave him, you can always come over here. Maybe we could move in together in your old apartment?" Emily felt the hard pressure of his mouth on hers and gave a cry, using her free arm to attempt to push him away.
Horatio had been hoping Emily would open the door herself and he could pull her to safety, then go after Josh.
In her struggles, her cell fell out of her pocket, landing with a thud on the floor. Josh looked down and realized what had been going on at the same time that Horatio had heard enough. "You … b…." he hissed, pushing her away.
Horatio was pressed against the building, and he leaned forward pounding on the door.
"Open up Josh, there's no where to go."
Mrs. Jenson came bustling out of the kitchen, Mr. Toodles in her arms, just in time to see Josh run past her toward the back of the apartment.
"I thought I heard someone at the door. Emily dear, you're as white as a sheet. Come sit down." Shaking her head no, Emily slid to the floor, reaching for her cell. She was trembling all over, now that the immanent danger of Josh appeared to be gone. Horatio was about to kick the door in, when it opened and a bewildered Mrs. Jenson found herself looking down the barrel of Horatio's gun.
"Oh, dear Lieutenant!"
Mr. Toodles didn't like it either apparently, and leapt from the elderly woman's arms with a loud meow, landing solidly on Horatio's shoulders. He felt the dig of the cat's claws through his suit and lowered his weapon, attempting to dislodge the cat. He succeeded and with another loud and insulted 'Meow' the cat jumped off his back, landing on the cement and quickly running toward the steps to take shelter beneath the stairs. Mrs. Jenson, intent on rescuing her beloved pet, blocked Horatio from entering the apartment, calling out,
"Mr. Toodles, you naughty kitty. Come back here this instant." Loud mauwing could be heard from beneath the stairs, but the cat refused to come out.
Emily watched the whole thing, seemingly in slow motion, from where she sat on the floor. Her arms and legs refused to move. It was only a moment, but seemed like minutes before Horatio managed to push his way inside, seeing Emily slumped on the floor and no sign of Josh.
TBC