Chapter 32
“If I had
allowed it to go to the jury, she would’ve done more time,” McCoy noted as he
reached across the bar for a roll. “Fortunately, her lawyer recognized that
fact too. He encouraged the family to accept my offer of seven years in a minimum
security prison and mandatory psychiatric care, which will last for the rest of
her life. When she’s paroled she has the option of finding her own doctor but
he or she will have to agree to comply with the court’s requirements.”
Morgan
finished a bite of chicken parmesan and acknowledged, “You don’t sound very
happy with the outcome. Would you have preferred to let it go to the jury?”
“I
would’ve preferred to not go to trial in the first place. It wasn’t easy to see
this poor woman sitting there agonizing while the victim’s family members took
the stand. She shouldn’t have had to go through a trial. She has her family to
thank for forcing the issue, though. They’re the ones that wouldn’t even
entertain the idea of a plea bargain. Had they done so, I would’ve offered
exactly what I did today and she would’ve been spared a lot of pain.” With a
shrug he added, “But maybe it was for the best. After everything she’s been
through, I don’t think we’ll ever have to worry about her going off her
medication again.”
“The
whole situation is so sad. There is definitely more than one victim in that
case.”
“I
couldn’t agree more. And now I’m going after the person I feel is ultimately
responsible. The trial for the doctor who assured her it was safe to go off her
medication starts next week. I considered trying both together but I think it’s
going to work out better this way. The sentence we agreed on today is going to
add weight to the doctor’s guilt. It also took us longer to put together a case
against him.”
“You
think you have enough to convict? Couldn’t he claim it was a judgment call?”
“He
could, but he’d be wrong since that point is moot. During our investigation
Serena found out that Paula Howard was arrested once before, twelve years ago.
She threatened a girl with a knife. Since no one was hurt and Paula was a minor
at the time, she was only given probation and the record was to be expunged
when she turned twenty-one. One of the conditions, though, was that she be
under a psychiatrist’s care and receive medication for her schizophrenia. When
her court-appointed psychiatrist retired, Dr. Schwartz became her doctor. His
lawyer claims the good doctor never received a letter spelling out the
court-mandated conditions, but when we leaned on his nurse a little she
admitted that such a letter had been in Paula’s file and only recently
disappeared.” Shaking his head he added, “By the time I get finished with Dr.
Randolph Schwartz, he’s going to wish he had become a plumber.”
Morgan
gave him a smile. “Gee, it’s so nice to see someone who truly enjoys their
work.”
“When it
comes to making someone pay for harming another, you bet I enjoy my work,” he
concurred. With a grin he added, “In some cases more than others.”
“Well it
sounds like this doctor deserves what he gets,” she noted as she got up to
rinse her plate and put it in the dishwasher. “It’s hard to feel sorry for
someone like that.”
“I
couldn’t agree more.” He added his plate to the dishwasher as well and began to
put the food away. “Do you want dessert now or after the movie?”
With a
contented sigh she replied, “Later. I couldn’t eat another bite right now.
Everything was just too good tonight.”
“Thanks,
I think that recipe is a keeper,” he responded. He picked up his drink as
Morgan finished wiping off the countertop. Then, turning off the kitchen light,
he slipped an arm around her and steered her to the living room. “Wait until
you see the movie I rented.”
***McCoy lay stretched on his side against the
back of the sofa with one arm tucked under his pillow and the other resting on
Morgan’s hip where she lay in front of him. Even though the movie credits were
scrolling slowly down the screen of his television, he kept as still as
possible. Morgan hadn’t moved a muscle in so long he was sure she had fallen
asleep. The thought of spending the night sandwiched together on his sofa was
enough to keep him where he was.
About the
time he had decided he could reach the remote without disturbing her, Morgan
stirred and then sat up.
“I thought
you had fallen asleep,” he noted as she stretched languidly.
“I could
have, if the movie hadn’t been so good,” she replied, swinging her feet to
the floor and leaning back against him. “I don’t know how I missed it for so
long. I remember seeing previews for it a couple of years ago but I just never
got around to seeing it.”
He
propped his head in one hand and encircled her waist with the other arm. “It has
been out a while. I’m glad we watched it together, though.”
Giving
him a smile she nodded. “So am I.” Patting his hand she added, “I’d better
borrow your bathroom before I head home.”
As he
watched her walk across the room and disappear into the bedroom, he let out a
long sigh. They had reached the part of their evenings together that he had grown
to both eagerly anticipate and dread. He was beginning to hate more and more
the times they parted company. But their good-night kisses had become quite a
bit more intense as Morgan had seemed to grow more comfortable with him after
their night together. He looked forward to those few minutes at the end of
their evenings … and dreaded the emptiness he felt afterwards.
“Where
are we going for dinner tomorrow night?” Morgan asked as she returned.
Sitting
up he replied, “I don’t know. Is there any place in particular that you’d like
to go?”
“No. As
long as it isn’t Chinese. I had business lunches with two different clients
this week who each decided on Chinese food. I still have leftovers in my
fridge.”
He got up
and moved to where she was standing beside the loveseat. “And we had Italian
tonight so that’s out, too.” Putting his arms around her, he suggested, “We
haven’t had seafood in a while. We could go back to Blue Water Grill and listen
to some jazz.”
Placing
her hands against his chest she nodded. “That would be fine with me. I really
enjoyed our last visit there. What time do you want to pick me up?”
“I’ll
call you tomorrow, either at your office or after you get home, and let you
know once I make the reservation. How late are you going to work?”
“I don’t
have a lot to do so I’ll probably take off as soon as the mail comes. I’m
expecting a check and I don’t want to risk leaving it at the front desk over
the weekend.”
“Then
I’ll call you about
“I missed
you too,” she admitted, hooking her fingers into the pocket of his faded denim
shirt. “Maybe next week won’t be quite as busy and we’ll have time to meet for
lunch one day.”
“Maybe.
I’ll be in court, though. You’ll have to meet me somewhere near there.”
With a
smile she agreed, “I can probably do that.”
Drawing
her closer to him, he bent forward for a kiss. Her lips tasted of toothpaste
and he knew she had used his spare toothbrush when she had gotten up from
watching the movie. Something about that, knowing she was also anticipating
what was to come, both pleased and amused him.
Morgan’s
arms were locked around his neck and her fingers brushed through his hair. Her
body was stretched against his, leaving a gap between the waistband of her
jeans and the hem of her sweater. While one hand moved down to cover the back
pocket of her jeans, his other slid underneath the sweater to caress her warm
skin.
As the
kiss deepened McCoy moved his hand to her ribs, then up, to the side of her
bra. Easing his hand between the two of them, he covered the front of the lacy
fabric with his fingers. When Morgan didn’t make the slightest effort to pull
away, he carefully slipped his thumb inside the cup. The instant it touched the
sensitive flesh inside, he felt her suck in a breath at the same time her teeth
grazed his lower lip.
Pulling
back in slight surprise, he searched her eyes for any sign of hesitation. But
the only thing he saw when she looked up at him was what he took for
unmistakable desire. The hand covering her back pocket tightened as he gently
squeezed the firm flesh underneath and bent to again cover her mouth with his.
As the
kiss became more intense he found that it was becoming difficult to ignore the
ache in his groin. Moving his thumb from inside her bra, he slid his hand to
her back and wrapped both arms tightly around her, crushing her to him. After
several seconds he felt her hands slip down from his shoulders to his chest.
Reluctantly, he broke off the kiss and relaxed his arms a bit.
He could
hear Morgan’s labored breaths as she rested her forehead against his chin and
her hands clutched the front of his shirt. Brushing his lips against her
forehead he said hoarsely, “If you’re going to leave, I’ll give you just five
minutes to do so. Otherwise, I’m not letting go of you until sometime Sunday
night.” Swallowing hard he added, “Or maybe not until Monday morning.”
Morgan
tucked her head under his chin and laid her cheek against his chest. His eyes
widened as he realized that she was making no effort to move. He barely
breathed as he waited, willing her to stay.
After
several seconds, she sighed heavily and slowly pulled away from him. McCoy
watched her carefully as she turned with obvious reluctance to retrieve her
shoes from beside the sofa. She had never shown any indecision about leaving
before. Encouraged by her reaction, he stuffed his hands into the pockets of
his jeans and took a couple of steps toward her as she sat down in the
wing-back chair closest to the door to put on her shoes.
“Is there
anything I can do or say to make you stay?” he asked quietly.
Morgan looked
up at him in surprise, dropping the shoe she held in her hand. When she quickly
lowered her eyes, he took the look to be one of disapproval and mentally kicked
himself.
“I’m
sorry,” he offered quickly. “I shouldn’t have asked that. I told you I wouldn’t
rush you and I won’t.”
She kept
her eyes carefully averted as she put on her remaining shoe. When she finished she
looked up at him thoughtfully for a moment before saying, “Sit down for a
minute. We need to talk.”
McCoy
turned and took hold of the wing-back chair sitting beside his desk and pulled
it across the floor until it was a couple of feet from where Morgan was
sitting. Taking a seat, he leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on
his knees.
“What is
it?”
She
shifted in her chair under his intense scrutiny. Staring at the floor she
finally admitted, “You’ve already done and said all the right things. Part of
me wants very much to stay with you tonight.”
His
eyebrows arched as he studied her for a second before prompting, “But?”
With a
shrug Morgan continued, “But there’s this little voice in my head telling me
that I should be running for my life instead of even considering such a thing.
As long as I can hear that little voice, I can’t be absolutely sure things
won’t turn out the way they did the last time we spent the night together. And
I don’t think it’s fair to either of us to go through that again.” With a
hesitant look at him she added softly, “I know I’m in love with you, Jack, I just don’t know if I can make love with you yet.”
He sat
back slightly, caught by surprise at her admission. She had never said the
words to him before, and for a moment he could think of nothing to say. Then,
with a slow smile, he reached forward and sandwiched one of her small hands between
both of his.
“So how
much longer do you think this little voice is going to be with us?”
“I don’t
know,” she acknowledged. “But at least it’s a little voice now. That’s
definitely a step in the right direction. It used to scream at me.”
Looking
into her eyes he asked, “And is there anything I can do to make it go away
completely? Some way that I can reassure you?”
“I don’t
think so,” Morgan replied quietly. “I think it has to come from me, from
inside. I don’t have any doubts about you. The doubts I have are about me. I
think they will eventually go away, I just don’t know when.”
With a
warm smile he said, “So what you’re saying is that I should do as I said I
would – be patient and wait.”
“I
suppose I am,” she nodded. “Well … that is, if you want to. I mean, you
certainly don’t have to. And I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. You’ve already
put up with a lot from me. I know it hasn’t been easy for you. I would
understand perfectly if you decided not to wait and to move on instead…” Giving
him an expectant look she suggested, “You can stop me any time here.”
Standing
up and pulling her to her feet, he responded, “I was just curious to see how
long you were going to go on with that ridiculous little speech.” Returning the
smile she gave him he queried, “You will tell me when your little voice gives
you the all clear, won’t you?”
Standing
on tip-toe, she leaned forward and gave him a gentle kiss. Then, laying her
hand against his cheek, she assured him, “Believe me, you’ll be the first to
know.”