Page 126 of Feared

“Roger, no! Stop!” Judy shrieked in terror. Mary couldn’t keep her eyes open. She was losing consciousness. Judy had probably called 911 but they wouldn’t get here in time for her, or the baby.

Suddenly the front door opened and standing in the threshold was Nick Machiavelli, holding a Pyrex dish with a tinfoil cover. His dark eyes widened in shock. He dropped the dish, slipped a hand inside his jacket, and pulled out a gun.

“Hands up or I shoot!” he shouted, aiming the gun at Roger.

“Don’t!” Roger raised his hands, releasing Mary just as Judy reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Mary, are you okay?” Judy shouted, frantic, and Mary nodded, coughing as she tried to get her breath. Her knees buckled, and she sank into the arms of her best friend. Judy hugged her and eased them both onto the floor, where they clung to each other as Mary’s coughs subsided.

“Roger, hit the floor! Don’t move!” Machiavelli advanced on Roger, pushing him backwards into the living room. Roger got down on his knees, then lay facedown on the rug. Sirens blared nearby.

“I called 911, that must be them.” Judy hugged Mary, whose breath started to return to normal. Her throat hurt, her head was killing her. She held her belly, thanking God she felt the baby moving. The sirens sounded closer, and she hoped they had an ambulance. Judy had a cut on her face, and her right cheek had begun to swell, her eye gradually closing. They should get checked out at a hospital.

“How areyou?” Mary asked, hoarsely. “You had a concussion.”

“I’m fine. We made it, girl.” Judy hugged her tighter.

“Yes, we did.” Mary felt a rush of gratitude that they had survived, as well as sympathy for Judy. “I’m sorry about John.”

“Thanks. But we’ll put Roger away. That helps.”

Machiavelli glanced over, holding the gun on Roger. “So ladies, lemme guess, Roger’s the bad guy?”

“Yes,” Mary answered.

“Toldyou it wasn’t me.” Machiavelli snorted.

“Sorry, and thanks.” Mary managed a smile. “Meanwhile, since when do you have a gun?”

“Don’t worry, I got a carry permit, Pollyanna.”

“You were almost right about the video.”

“Almost?” Machiavelli lifted an eyebrow. The sirens sounded less than a block away. “Lucky I came by when I did. My mother was worried about you. She made you spinach lasagna. Now it probably broke in a million pieces, and she loved that dish. She wanted it back.”

“Uh-oh. Who’s going to tell her?”

“Baby Boy, of course,” Machiavelli answered, with a sly smile.

CHAPTER FIFTY

The next few hours were a blur of activity, starting with the previously unlikely trio of Mary, Judy, and Machiavelli standing together as a cadre of police officers swarmed Roger. They hoisted him to his feet and handcuffed him, still bleeding from his facial cuts, then hauled him out of the house into a waiting police cruiser. He didn’t look back, but it was a moment that Mary and Judy would never forget. Seeing him get his comeuppance gave them both comfort, though Mary noticed that he’d left bloodstains on her living room carpet. She made a mental note to deduct it from the legal fees they’d never pay him. And to remember that at least once in her life, she had been totally badass.

Then she and Judy were whisked into ambulances, taken to the hospital, and wheeled into the emergency department. Judy was sent for testing, which came out fine, and Mary was examined, put on a fetal monitor, and cried tears of joy when she was told that the baby was fine. Detectives Krakoff and Marks appeared, and Mary and Judy gave them preliminary statements, enabling them to charge Roger with John’s murder, attempted murder, and other offenses. Mary’s home was officially a crime scene, so she was secretly happy she had cleaned up.

Bennie, Anne, and Lou arrived, and Mary and Judy had filled them in as much as they could before they got sent out to the waiting room, since they weren’t immediate family. Her parents came, horrified and distraught, and she and Judy had to comfort them, get them some water, and make sure they were okay, a turnabout of the typical hospital visit. The Hodges and William were happily teary to learn that John’s murderer was in custody, and they thanked Mary and Judy. The Tonys and El Virus arrived but they had to stay in the waiting room, too. Mary had no problem with her mother-in-law’s being outside, though she missed The Tonys. She heard that the Rosary Society showed up, and Tony-From-Down-The-Block had his eye on Conchetta Patrioca so love was in the air.

Except that Anthony wasn’t here yet. She hadn’t had her phone, so she hadn’t been able to call him herself and let him know what was going on. The cops had taken Judy’s phone for evidence, so Machiavelli had stepped up to call him, which must have blown his mind, not only hearing that his wife was almost killed but being told by her former enemy. Anthony hadn’t been able to get a flight from Boston until early the next morning, but sent his love.

Mary and Judy were admitted to the hospital overnight for observation, and, after some doing, they even got the same room, for the best/worst slumber party ever. Mary called Anthony using the landline in the room, but wasn’t able to reach him. Her parents insisted on staying the night since he wasn’t there, and they’d conked out in chairs. Judy had fallen asleep after the Hodges and William left, leaving Mary not completely surprised to learn that her best friend snored. Still it was one of the loveliest sounds Mary had ever heard, and she thanked God that Judy was alive.

Mary couldn’t sleep and lay in bed, her eyes open, her thoughts racing, and her palms resting on her belly. She couldn’t help but replay the events of the night, even as horrific as theywere, but it helped her to process them, now that she and Judy were safe. She could feel the baby moving through the cottony blanket, and every kick made her feel better.

The room was dark and quiet, and the only light came from the sharp greens and blues of the monitors keeping track of her vital signs, since she’d been given IV fluids and had a plastic clip on her index finger. Moonlight streamed in through the window next to her bed, bathing the room in a soft glow, and instinctively she turned her head to look outside, toward the sky.

The night was darkly black, the stars ghosted by the haze over the city, but the moon hung low in the sky, a mottled whitish-gray as perfectly round as a child’s marble. Mary had always liked the moon, and Judy told had told her that it had a female energy. But Mary didn’t know if she was allowed to think that anymore, or if it violated gender discrimination laws.

“Babe?” somebody whispered, and Mary startled, turning from the window to see Anthony walking toward the bed, hardly visible except for his smile.

---