The Doctor's Secret Bride(97)
When he’d called Michelle earlier to finalize their plans for tonight and tomorrow, she’d sounded a bit worried he thought. She’d said that she wanted to talk with him about something important before they left for the hotel. He’d wondered if it were possible that she was pregnant. Even though they’d used condoms in Cape Cod, he knew those things were wont to break at times. He’d delivered many condom-breaking babies. That would be the happiest news she could give him.
Turning from the window, Erik walked back to his desk. He was reaching for his briefcase when the intercom on his desk buzzed. He stared at the blinking button, hoping it was not a patient. There was only one woman he wished to see tonight, and he didn’t want anything keeping him from her. He pressed the answer button. “Yes.”
“There’s a detective here to see you, Dr. LaCrosse,” the receptionist said.
“A detective?” His first thought was that something had happened to his daughter, his mother, or... “Did he say what it’s about?”
“Erik, it’s Garret,” a masculine voice said. “It’s old business.”
Garret. A cold hand twisted inside Erik’s gut. He really didn’t want to deal with old news tonight. But he’d asked the detective to reopen the case, so it was only fair he heard him out. He would either tell him he’d found Cassie’s killer or that he hadn’t, and was closing the case permanently. He was moving on either way.
He met the medium-built man at the door. “I didn’t know you made house calls, Detective.”
“Only for special friends on very special occasions.” Garret threw him a wan smile as he stepped into the office.
Erik closed the door. On any other day, he would have loved to stay and chat with the man he’d come to know quite well two years ago, but not tonight. “So what’s the news? Good or bad?” he asked with a bit of impatience.
“I’m afraid I have both.”
That cold hand tightened around his gut again. “Good news would be that you found the bastard who killed my wife. Bad news would be that you’re closing the case permanently because all leads have gone cold and since it can’t be both—”
“Erik, I found him.”
Erik took a deep ragged breath to combat the shaking in his bones. “What’s bad about that? We’ve all been waiting for this day for a long time.”
“It’s the who that makes it bad.”
Erik stared at the man, not understanding why he should care who the drunk was that killed his wife. “Just give it to me.”
“As you wish, but I think you should sit down,” Garret warned.
“I don’t want to sit.”
“Okay then. A few days ago, some new prints showed up in the database. They were from a recent DUI in Trenton.”#p#分页标题#e#
“New Jersey?”
Garret nodded.
“Did he kill someone else?” He couldn’t imagine another family, a husband and child living through the same horror he had.
“Not this time,” Garret answered. “He ran off the road and into the side of a cafeteria. Thank God it was after hours.”
“And why wasn’t I informed before now?”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up, unnecessarily. I wanted to talk to this man. Make sure he is our guy. Since he was still in the custody of the local police, I took a trip down to Trenton.”
“And...” Erik spread his hands in impatience. He couldn’t believe that after all this time, he could finally put this nightmare behind him. The timing was so perfect.
“That’s the bad news.”
Erik’s heart beat hard and fast within his chest. “What’s bad about that?”
Garret glanced away, his expression growing even more somber than when he walked into the office.
Erik felt the blood drain from his body. He didn’t know what to expect. But somehow he knew he would not like whatever it was the detective would tell him next. “Garret.”
“When I questioned him, he confessed everything. Erik, the man who killed your wife is—”
“Is what, Garret?” Erik took a step and towered over the detective. “Who killed my wife?”
“Dwight Carter. The father of your daughter’s nanny.”
Erik’s heart dropped to his belly. He staggered backward against his desk. He took quick shallow breaths as bile rose in his throat. “No. It can’t be. Not him,” he mumbled, shaking his head in rejection. “It can’t be him.”
“I’m sorry, Erik. I wish I didn’t have to give you this kind of news. He’s already in custody. I could swing by your house and pick up the nanny tonight.”