As promised, Detective Hunter returned with the legal pad and pen. He smiled as he handed them to Jess. “If you could leave out the editorializing about me being stupid, I’d appreciate it.”
Jess smiled back. “I never thought it was your fault. I figure you were just being misled by Lila,” she said as she began writing her statement.
Ben called Pauli to find out how Joey was and to let him know that his family would be staying there. He smiled. His family. The Parkers were his family. He wondered if that made him an honorary Parker, or if they were all Bellinis now. Not that it mattered. Either way, they were his.
“Pauli, you at the house or the hospital?”
“I’m just leaving the hospital. Joey’s with me. He was doing fine and they were going to release him tomorrow anyway. He didn’t want to spend the night there.”
“Lane and Jamie are on their way to the house. Jess and I will be there shortly.”
Ben was glad his house had five bedrooms. They were going to need every one of them tonight. He had spent a portion of the early evening arranging to have cars retrieved and delivered. Joey and Jess had been driving Lane’s Escalade, which had been left at the mall, as had Pauli’s BMW. He’d had Lane’s SUV towed to his house and Pauli’s BMW was delivered to the hospital. The Escalade had Lane’s suitcase in it. Crap, it also had Joey’s duffle and the packages from the stalker. Joey hadn’t opened them. Ben knew he was going to have to hand them over to Detective Hunter, but there was nothing to say that he couldn’t look them over first.
Jess finished writing her statement and handed the pad back to the Detective.
Adam took it and said, “We’ll have it printed up and ready for you to sign in the morning.”
Jess knew Ben was going to be in court tomorrow, she couldn’t imagine she needed a lawyer with her just to sign the statement.
Adam walked them to the lobby. They left the building and got into Ben’s Lincoln Navigator.
“I can have Daniella go with you tomorrow. Uncle Sal and I will be in court. You shouldn’t need a lawyer, but I’d feel better if she is with you. She doesn’t practice criminal law, but she’ll still keep them from doing anything stupid.”
Jess was tired. She hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep for days and now that the stalker was dead, maybe she could finally get some sleep. She leaned her head against the window. “Whatever you think is best.”
“Joey’s out of the hospital. Pauli’s bringing him home,” Ben said as he pulled into his driveway. He had a three car attached garage and a two car detached garage, yet his driveway still resembled a used car lot. Jamie’s truck and Pauli’s BMW were in the drive. He’d had Lane’s SUV put in the third bay of the attached garage, and he pulled the Navigator into the middle bay.
They went into the house and found everyone in the hearth room. For tonight, Ben hoped everyone could just grab a room, and they’d sort out which room Jamie wanted to claim for his own tomorrow. Jess could choose one too, but since she wasn’t in Kansas much, he thought Jamie should probably get first choice. He gave his head a slight shake; he shouldn’t worry about it. The Parker kids would work things out without him. Joey had snagged a room two days ago, Pauli had grabbed one last night, and Jamie had already claimed his room. Leaving Jess with no real choice.
There were crutches leaning against the sofa arm next to where Joey sat. Jess looked from him to the crutches and back. “Why the hell aren’t you in bed?”
“Just waiting to be sure you’re all right,” Joey said. He looked tired.
“I didn’t get stabbed.”
Joey looked at her hand. “No, I guess you didn’t.”
No, she hadn’t been stabbed, but she’d cut her hand and Pauli had said she’d gotten stitches. God, Ben was right. She really was five feet four inches of intense.
Joey got up. “I’ll just go to my room then.”
He grabbed the crutches and started toward his bedroom, with Jess hot on his trail. He turned to close the door and found her standing in the doorway. God, he’d underestimated that little twerp today, had gotten himself stabbed and had endangered her in the process. He felt bad enough. What did she want?
She walked to the bed and pulled back the covers. “The slime ball’s dead. Someone stabbed him in the carotid with one of my shoes. You know anything about it, wise guy?”
Joey sat down on the bed. “No. Remember, I was in the hospital, but I can’t say I’m gonna lose any sleep over it. How did someone get one of your shoes?”
“Remember when I said something was gone? It was my favorite pair of shoes. Ben gave them to me last August. Apparently, Clyde stole them and whoever killed him used my shoe to do it.”
Joey shook his head. God, he needed a pain pill. “Your shoes? I’m not buying you any shoes.”
Jess glared at him. “What are you talking about? No one asked you to buy me any shoes.”
“When you said something was gone I told you whatever it was I’d buy you two, but I’m not buying you shoes. That seems to be Pauli’s and Ben’s area. I’m not part of the Jess Parker shoe club.”
She looked at him and slapped the fingers of her stitched left hand into the palm of her right hand the way she’d seen Ben do last month to get Pauli’s attention. “You big dumb Pisano, I don’t want you to buy me shoes.” She leaned in and kissed him. “You scared me half to death. Don’t do it again.” Then she turned and walked out of the room.
Chapter 22
the defense rests
Ben got up at 5:30 in the morning. His normal exercise routine included a morning run of five or ten miles, depending more on his mood than anything else. He needed a 10 mile run this morning. He’d spent two nights in bed with his wife, listening to her moan in her sleep. He hadn’t made love to Lane in weeks now, and while he loved the sound of her moans, he preferred to be the reason for them. He needed to finish this trial and get to see her doctor. She’d tried to convince him making love wouldn’t hurt the baby, but until he heard it from her doctor, he wasn’t taking any chances. He loved her more than life itself, and now she was carrying his baby. There was no sacrifice too great to make in exchange for the lives of his wife and his child.
As he ran, he thought about the trial. He had three, maybe four more witnesses to call. With any luck, they’d be making closing statements this afternoon. One of his expert witnesses was an OB, but he wouldn’t dream of asking anyone but Lane’s doctor about her condition and their sex life.
It took him less than an hour to run 10 miles. He got back to the house and found Jamie in the kitchen. Jamie was a senior in high school, he played football, and it seemed like he was constantly eating. “Hey, Bambino. You’re up early.” Ben grabbed a bottle of water and took a long drink.
Jamie smiled. “Not really. I’m an early riser. I hope it’s okay, I used the weight room.”
Ben put the empty water bottle into the recycling bin. “As of two days ago, this is your home. My weight room is your weight room. You don’t have to worry about or ask about using anything. I’m heading there now. What time do you leave for school?”
“I’ll leave around 7:30. If I don’t see you before I leave, good luck in court.”
“Thanks, Bambino. I’ll be wrapping up today. And, no matter what we’ll all be at the game tonight. Call me if you need anything. You can call the office, even if I’m in court, they’ll get word to me.”
Ben went to the basement and into the weight room. Rain, snow, or shine, he ran every morning and then he used the weight room for strength training. He went through his reps and went to the master suite to shower. He paused and watched Lane as she slept. She was so beautiful, and if it was possible, she seemed even more beautiful now. He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, or if pregnant women really did have a glow about them. He closed the bathroom door so he wouldn’t disturb her as he showered and dressed. When he was dressed and ready to go, he bent and kissed her cheek as she slept.