Chapter Nineteen
Natalie awoke at the sight of the
sun shining through the window. She stretched, yawing and rubbing
her eyes as she stood from the chair.
"Natalie," Viki said, coming into the room, clasping
her earring. "Sweetheart, I didn't know you were still
here."
"Yeah..." Natalie smiled, "Jess was gonna wake me
up... she has a class this afternoon we were gonna get
coffee," she paused "I feel so horrible that she had to
go through seeing that yesterday."
"She was really glad you came to spend the night." Viki
said.
Natalie laughed. "Well Roxy wasn't too thrilled about
being alone last night, but I managed to convince her that having
Ron across the hall would keep her safe."
Viki chuckled. "Roxanne is understandably concerned."
she said. "this man is very dangerous. Whoever he is."
"Yeah, you can say that again," Natalie said. She
paused. "I'm gonna run upstairs... see if Jess is still
up for coffee."
Natalie turned from Viki, making her way up the stairs. She came
to a stop outside Jessica's bedroom door. She knocked
softly. "Jessica?" Natalie waited a moment before
knocking again. "Jess?" Natalie turned the doorknob,
pushing her way in. "Jess?.." she stopped suddenly, her
breath catching in her throat. "Mom!"
Marcie stirred slightly, her eyes opening. She let out a tiny
yawn. Climbing out of bed, she stretched, making her way to the
bathroom. She reached for the doorknob as the door swung inward.
Marcie's eyes widened and jaw dropped slightly.
Al stood before her, a towel wrapped around his waist. He grasped
the knot tightly to keep it from slipping off his hips.
"Michael..." Marcie stammered, swallowing hard. Neither
of them moved. "I umm..." she laughed softly to keep
herself from staring. She blushed, feeling her knees buckle
beneath her.
"Woah," Al said, throwing his arms out to steady her.
He led her over to sit on the bed, letting out a soft laugh.
"Easy... her. You alright?"
"Just a little embarrassed." Marcie said softly,
pushing the hair behind her ears.
"Hey, everyone gets a little lightheaded once in a
while," Al rationalized it, sitting beside her.
"Right..." Marcie said. "Yeah... lightheaded, that's
what it is..." Her face was beat red, both out of
embarrassment and the fact that he was still sitting there in
nothing but a blue towel. "I'm OK" she said.
"I'm sorry. I'm..." she giggled nervously.
"You look flushed," Al slowly lifted his hand, placing
it gently on her forehead. "And warm..." he was just as
drawn in as she was.
"Oh..." Marcie's voice trailed off as she leaned
into his hand.
"Yeah..." Al gazed at her. "Maybe it's the
flu..."
"The flu..." she said as his hands moved down, resting
behind her neck. Her eyes locked with his as he began to lean his
head in, their lips just slightly brushing against eachother.
"Michael!" A pounding came at the door. Al and Marcie
bolted back. "Mike, open the door!"
Al sighed. He stood from the bed, clutching the towel around his
waist, making his way to the door, swinging it inward. "What
John?" he said "What now?
"We need to talk, Mike," he said pushing his way into
the apartment.
"Gee, come on in, John" Al said sarcastically.
"OK," he said "One time and one time only. Where
were you last night?"
"Here." Al said.
"Anyone who can prove that?
"I can..." Marcie said stepping out of the bedroom.
John looked at her and then at Michael. "He was here all
night. I'll swear to it."
"Bo's headed this way" he said "He's set
to murder."
"Who'd I kill this time?" Al folded his arms
across his chest.
"His niece," John said. "Jessica Buchanan."
Al's heart stopped. "Jessica?" he said shaking his
head, his eyes shut. "Oh God... no."
Marcie's hands went up to her face. "Oh no..." she
said. "Jessica was..." she cried.
Al stood back in shock, utter disbelief, almost as if a piece of
him was torn apart. "Jess..." he said softly as John
cell phone rang.
"Yeah, McBain." he answered. "Yeah... I'll be
right over." he hung up. "I gotta get out of here, we
might have this guy."
"We're coming with you." AL said.
"Michael..." John said discouraging it. He shook his
head, turning and hurrying from the apartment.
Al paused a moment, trying desperately to pull himself together.
He turned to Marcie. "Get dressed. We're going to
Llanfair."
The police combed the perimeter of Llanfair as John McBain pulled
up, getting out of the car. "What do we have?" he said
approaching CSU.
"We found it outside the bedroom window" the
investigator said handing John a small evidence bag. "Could
give you a good clue even if it doesn't have any traceable
prints."
"A lighter." John said.
"Oh it's more than that" the investigator said.
"Here..." he turned the bag over pointing out the
distinguish feature. "Initialed. RW. Any ideas?"
John clutched the bag in his hand. "Only one"
