The Stein Ch. 03

Without the tape to look at I didn't know what to do with myself. I felt very alone. I wanted Nicky home with me. I missed her terribly and I wondered if we would ever be together again. Then some of the things Parker had said to me began to eat at my psyche. How could Nicky have been involved with this man?

I was beginning to see that none of this could have happened unless Nicky had been involved with Parker in some manner. Whether she had a brief affair with him while they were in Germany or if it had continued even after they came back home didn't matter. Either way our marriage was over. I still couldn't believe that Nicky wanted me dead. I would never believe that.

My mood was becoming quite foul and I decided my coffee needed some strengthening so I went to the pantry to get my bourbon. I looked over at the bloodstain on the floor as I walked to the pantry to get the bourbon. For a moment I thought I saw Parkers face staring at me from the dark red puddle. I shuddered a little as I turned away to open the pantry. I could still feel the chill in my spine as I stood staring at the amber liquid in the bottle of Maker's Mark and for the first time I said out loud, "I hope that bastard is dead."

For a moment my eye was drawn to the shelf where the flashlight had been the night before. "Oh, yes, now I remember," I said to myself. Then I turned around to see if the flashlight was still on the floor. It wasn't. I guess that had been taken as evidence.

The rest of the day was spent weighing everything I knew to come up with a plan of action for how I was going to deal with Nicky.

That evening Tony stopped by to collect the two drinks I owed him. He told me that John Parker had remained in a coma until 12:45 PM and then succumbed to his wounds. I poured Tony another scotch as it was evident he needed it. He was trying to act like it was no big deal but I could tell that taking a man's life, even if it was justifiable, was a heavy burden for Tony to carry.

We discussed his feelings about the shooting even though he said he didn't want to talk about it and then he gave me the other news he had for me.

"I talked to the Assistant DA and she said that they are not going to press charges on your wife," Tony said. "She said that Mrs. Anderson cooperated fully with the investigation and they didn't believe she was materially involved with the attempts on your life by Mr. Parker."

I was glad that Nicky was out of that mess but I still had to decide what I was going to do about Nicky.

Tony told me more about his discussion with the Assistant DA and what she told him the reasons were for not filing charges against Nicky. As I listened to Tony I began to feel a strange sensation in my body. It was almost as though my body was losing weight as I sat there. Part of my mind was concentrating on what Tony was telling me and another part of my mind was deciding what I was going to do about my marriage.

*****

By ten o'clock Saturday morning I was in the Honda on my way over to Nicky's parents house.

George met me at the door and asked me how I was and then led me into the living room where Mary and Nicky were sitting.

"We heard what happened on the news last night," Mary said. "That must have been terrible for you."

Nicky started crying and said, "Why didn't you call yesterday and tell us what happened?"

"I am sorry. I should have called but yesterday was a miserable day and I really didn't want to talk to anyone," I lied. Actually it wasn't a complete lie. I just wasn't ready to talk to Nicky.

Then watching Nicky for her reaction I said, "Did you know that Parker died from his wounds?"

Nicky looked down at her hands and was shaking her head as her eyes filled with tears again.

George said, "Yes. It was on the news last night. There is no sorrow for him is this house."

Nicky looked up at me and said, "I am not crying for him, Eric, I am crying because of what he did to us."

"I can't understand what would make a man behave that way," Mary said. "Eric, did you know that the DA's office called yesterday? They said that they aren't going to charge Nicky with anything."

I looked over at Nicky. "Yes, I heard. That's good news," I said

Nicky smiled at me but didn't speak.

"Mary, I just want to tell you and George how much I appreciate your help and support during this very stressful time," I said. Then looking at Nicky I said, "This has been difficult for all of us."

Nicky got up off the sofa and walked over to me and stood directly in front of me and asked, "Can I come home with you?"

"No. I am not going home."

"Not going home? Where are you going?" Nicky asked as she looked at me wide eyed.

"I have to take Charlie's car back to his house in Las Vegas." I said.

Nicky's water works were starting again but she was trying to put on a brave front.

"I don't understand. Charlie lives in Sherman Oaks, why do you have to take his car to Las Vegas?" Nicky asked.

I put my hands on both sides of her face and looked directly into her beautiful eyes and said, "I'll explain it all to you on the way to Las Vegas."

Nicky was wiping the tears from her eyes as she asked, "You want me to go to Vegas with you?"

I leaned forward and kissed Nicky on the forehead. "Yes, of course I want you to go with me," I said.

Nicky wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"George, I need a favor. I have people coming over to clean the mess in the kitchen on Monday. Do you think you could go over there and house sit while they work?"

"No problem. What time should I be there?"

"Around noon," I said. "If you don't mind, Nicky and I have to leave now."

George and Mary walked us to the door. It was impossible for them to hide the smiles on their faces. They were happy to see Nicky and me back together.

"We need to stop back at the house so I can pack some clothes," Nicky said as we walked to the car.

"I have already packed everything you'll need," I said.

"So you knew before you got here that you were going to take me with you?"

"You are my wife. The woman I love, why would I go anywhere without you?" I said.

Nicky grabbed me and kissed me on the mouth. "You're the man I love."

For the first forty-five minutes of the trip Nicky didn't say much. She just sat quietly with a smile on her face.

When we reached the interchange from I-10 to I-15 Nicky started to talk.

"You packed my clothes? What did you pack?" she asked.

"I packed underwear, especially the panties and bras I like to see you wear, a few shorts and tops, your black cocktail dress, your bikini and your one piece bathing suit. I also packed your sandals and the black heels that go with your cocktail dress. I threw all of your makeup into a bag also. Anything else you need you will have to buy."

Nicky kissed me on the cheek and we began to talk about things the way we always had.

After a while Nicky sat back and seemed to relax but I started to become aware of a mood change. I could see that Nicky was becoming more somber and I finally had to ask her what was wrong.

"Eric, I am so sorry about everything that happened. I need to tell you everything so you'll understand that I love you and that there was never anything between John and me. I am just afraid that you might not trust me anymore and if that's true it could ruin our marriage. I want you to ask me any questions you might have. I will tell you anything you want to know so please talk to me."

"I do have one question that I would like to know the answer to. This is important so I need to know the truth," I said.

Nicky turned toward me. "No matter what you ask me I promise to tell you the truth," he said.

"Okay then. Nicky, did you..."

Nicky started shaking her head no before I even could finish the question.

"Did you break the beer stein?" I asked.

Nicky's head was still shaking as I completed the question.

"No... Wait...What? Yes, yes I did," she said. "That is not a question I expected,"

"Obviously."

"Do you want to know why I broke it?" Nicky asked.

"No. I already know," I said.

Nicky looked at me with a question in her eyes.

"Nicky, I love you and trust you completely. I now know everything I need to know in order to move on. This topic needs no further discussion, at least not until we get back home next week. I just want to spend the next several days enjoying the fact that were are together again," I said as I reached over and took Nicky's hand in mine.

Nicky was all smiles the rest of the way to Charlie's house.

When we got to the house I took a quick look around to see if there was any evidence that Parker had broken into the house the night I left Vegas. I found no evidence that Parked had been there. I began to wonder if he had seen me leaving that night. He knew what I looked like so he might have recognized me when we passed each other.

When we walked into the house Nicky looked around and said, "This is much better than staying at one of the strip hotels."

While Nicky gave herself a quick tour of the house I retrieved two cold Heinekens from the refrigerator. Nicky was in the master bedroom looking out at the pool in the back yard when I handed her a beer.

"Do you want to change into your bikini and hit the pool?" I asked.

"Yes, but first I want us both to take off our clothes and then I want to make love to you."

I must say that I liked Nicky's direct approach. We stood facing each other as we began to strip. When I removed my shirt and Nicky saw my scars she began to cry. I had to go to her and put my arms around her until she calmed down. I kissed her several times and told her everything was going to be all right.

"It's just that when I see those scars I can't help but feel responsible for them," Nicky said.

"Nicky, listen to me," I said. "You were not responsible for what Parker did. The reason he tried to kill me had nothing to do with you."

Nicky looked at me in disbelief.

"Parker was obsessed with Sarah Bowden. He had a grudge against me ever since I helped her get away from him the night I met her. I didn't know him and I didn't know about his obsession until a couple of days ago. I'll tell you the whole story later but for now I just want you to know that none of what happened to me was your fault. It was all Parker. If he hadn't shot me that day on the stairs he would have done it some other time and he might have been more successful. So let's just make love and forget about John Parker for a while," I said.

Then I picked Nicky up and carried her to the bed where I finished removing her clothes. As soon as I had her naked I striped off the rest of my clothes and joined Nicky on the bed.

"Are you up to this?" Nicky asked. "I almost lost you once. I certainly don't want you to have a heart attack during sex. You are going to need all the strength you have to survive the loving I am going to give you."

"I am willing to risk it. Let's see what you've got," I said and then kissed Nicky.

Nicky forced me to roll onto my back. I have to admit I didn't exactly resist her. She kissed my face several times and then started down my neck to my chest. Nicky stopped for a moment and looked into my eyes and said, "Eric, I love you," and then she gently kissed each of the scars on my chest before sliding down and taking my swollen member into her mouth.

Nicky brought me near climax twice with her mouth and then she straddled my hips and took my cock inside her hot sex and rode us both to orgasm.

When we had both recovered from our orgasms I kissed Nicky and said, "That was great, but if you plan on doing me in with sex you are going to have to do better than that."

"The day is still young, buster, so you better take some vitamins," Nicky said.

We spend the rest of the day relaxing around the pool and that evening Nicky made dinner from the groceries I had purchased the previous weekend. It was just spaghetti with Ragu sauce and a bottle of red wine but we made it a romantic dinner.

We made love again that night and then sat up in bed as we looked out the window at the lights from the strip and just talked to each other.

*****

EPILOG

I would guess that many of you readers are wondering how I was able to completely trust Nicky again. Was I ignoring all of the negative possibilities? No. Let me explain.

After the investigators from IAD left the house on Friday you will remember that I had decided that I wanted to add something stronger to my coffee. When I went to the pantry to get the bourbon I happened to look up at the shelf the flashlight had been on before I grabbed it. Of course the flashlight was no longer there but in its place was the videotape of Nicky's interview at the police station. So along with my bourbon and coffee I watched the rest of the tape.

When I loaded the tape in my VCR and hit play it started just after the last part that I remembered seeing so I backed the tape up a little and hit play.

Detective Harris said, "He was trying to talk you into having sex with him? You mean he was trying to seduce you?"

"Yes... I guess so," Nicky said.

"Did he have any reason to believe that you would be willing to have sex with him?" Detective Harris asked.

"He kept talking about what happened in Germany and how we should finish what we started that night."

"Mrs. Anderson, why don't you tell me about what happened between you and Mr. Parker in Germany?"

Nicky spoke to Jim for a moment and then said, "We went to Germany as chaperones for the German club. The club members had been invited to visit Germany by a school in Munich. Our students stayed with families of the students of the host school. The seven chaperones stayed at a local hotel.

"On our last full day there we took the students out to shop for souvenirs. I was looking in the window of a store that sold all kinds of collectables. At first I was looking at the Hummels. I had often wanted to start collecting them but they are so expensive. Next to the Hummels I spotted a German beer stein. As soon as I saw it I knew it was something that Eric would like."

"Why would you husband like the stein?" Detective Harris asked.

"Eric has a small collection of beer mugs and steins but nothing as nice as the one I was looking at in the store window."

"Okay, continue then."

"I could see the price tag on the stein and I calculated that the price in dollars would be more than one hundred dollars. Just then John came over and asked me what I was looking at. I told him that I liked the beer stein but it was too expensive. After that we rounded up the students and took them back to the school to be picked up by their hosts.

"That evening the chaperones were invited out to dinner by a few of the teachers at our host school. When I was getting ready to go out John came to my room and said he had a gift for me and handed me an unwrapped box. Inside the box was the beer stein I had been looking at. I told John that I couldn't accept such an expensive gift but he insisted. He said it was a thank you for all the help I had given him as he got settled in at our school.

"Part of me knew that I shouldn't accept the gift but part of me wanted it because I knew Eric would like it. So, I thanked John and we headed off to meet the other chaperones in the hotel lobby.

"We had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and then our hosts took us to an authentic Bier Haus. There was an Um Pa band playing and our host started teaching us to dance some German folk dances. We were having a great time and I had too much to drink so that by the time we left to go back to our hotel I was feeling pretty good. John held my arm as we walked and I assumed that he was just making sure that I didn't stumble on the cobble stone sidewalk.

"When we got back to the hotel John escorted me to my room and when I opened my door he pulled me to him and kissed me. It surprised me and I am afraid I didn't react so he kissed me again and for a moment I kissed him back and then I realized what I was doing and I pulled away from him. I told him what he did was inappropriate and I should never have let him kiss me the second time. He said that he wanted me and that he knew that I wanted him also. I told him he was wrong and then I pushed him back into the hall and I closed me door."

"Was that the end of it? Did Mr. Parker leave you alone after that?" Detective Harris asked.

"Pretty much. The next day John apologized for his behavior and blamed it on how much he had had to drink the night before. He behaved himself the rest of the time."

"So you didn't have sex with Mr. Parker?"

"No. I have never had sex with Mr. Parker. I love my husband and I have never cheated on him and I never will."

"When you came home, what did your husband say about the beer stein that Mr. Parker gave you?"

"I didn't tell Eric that John gave me the stein. I told him that I bought it for him. It made me happy when I saw how much Eric liked the stein but then it struck me that I had just lied to Eric for the first time in our marriage and I began to cry. I almost told him the truth then and now I wish I had."

"After the trip did Mr. Parker try to get you to go out with him or suggest that you have an affair with him?" Detective Harris asked.

"He would flirt with me occasionally but he never did anything terribly inappropriate."

"What do you mean by terribly inappropriate?"

"Well, the flirting was inappropriate but not offensive. He never suggested that we go out or anything like that and he never suggested that we have sex, that is until the day of the accident."

"Why do you say it was an accident?"

"John wouldn't have shot Eric on purpose. He shot Eric by accident."

"Mrs. Anderson, the shooting was no accident. Mr. Parker knew your husband, he had enough time to identify him on the stairs before he shot him. There is no way Mr. Parker would not have seen that your husband was carrying his bags upstairs and that he did not have a gun."

"No, that can't be. He wouldn't have done that on purpose." Nicky cried.

"Mrs. Anderson, when you were hiding in the closet did you hear the gun shots?"

"Yes."

"Can you describe what you heard?" Detective Harris asked.

"The first shot was very loud and then a few seconds passed and the next two shots were not quit as loud," Nicky said.

"Do you have any idea why there was a delay between the first shot and the last two?"

"No. I never really thought about it."

"Mr. Parker waited at the top of the stair until Your husband reached the landing and had turned so he was facing Mr. Parker." Detective Harris said. "Mr. Parker then shot your husband in the chest. Mr. Anderson then fell down the stairs landing on top of his luggage. Mr. Parker then walked down the stairs and stood over him and shot him two more times in the abdomen. It was apparent from Mr. Parkers actions that he wanted your husband dead and he wanted it to be slow and painful."

Nicky's head dropped onto the table and she was sobbing. Jim pulled her up and hugged her and said something to help her calm down and then Jim asked if someone would bring Nicky a glass of water.

Detective Harris gave Nicky a chance to recover while they waited for the water.

"Now, Mrs. Anderson, can you think of any reason that Mr. Parker would want to kill your husband?" Detective Harris asked.

Nicky shook her head. "I can't believe he would do that and I certainly don't know why he would."

"Is there anything else you can tell me that might help us understand why Mr. Parker would want to shoot your husband?"

"I can't think of anything except that now I am wondering if this has anything to do with Sarah Bowden," Nicky said.

"Why do you think this has something to do with Ms. Bowden?"

"I don't know. It's just that while we were in Germany, John told me to ask Eric if her remembered Sarah Bowden but then he wouldn't tell me why he wanted me to ask him."