Chapter Fifty-two
Still in uniform, I pulled into Dr. James’s driveway, quickly got out of the car, ran up the steps and rang the doorbell. When no one answered, I banged five times with the edge of my fist. “Dr. James! Are you home?”
His car was in the driveway and there were lights on inside. I listened carefully for voices but heard nothing until the sound of footsteps approached. At last the door opened.
Dr. James, dressed in jeans and a navy golf shirt, greeted me with a frown. “What are you doing here?” His gaze raked disapprovingly from the brim of my police hat to the badge pinned on my shirt, then down to my gun belt and black boots.
“Your wife called Holly and asked to be picked up. Holly couldn’t leave the hospital so she asked me to come instead.”
“My wife doesn’t need a ride anywhere,” Dr. James replied.
I carefully scrutinized his expression, searching for signs of duplicity or agitation, and noticed his right hand flexing and fisting. “Where is your wife, sir?”
“She’s upstairs.”
“Could you ask her to come down please? I’d like to speak to her.”
Dr. James glared at me intensely. “This isn’t any of your business, Josh.”
“Well, since your daughter asked me to stop by and check on her mother, I think that makes it very much my business. Mind if I come in?”
His brow furrowed. “Yes, I do mind.”
I held his gaze steadily in mine. “Let’s not make this any more difficult than it has to be. I need to see Mrs. James. She called for assistance and said she didn’t feel safe. If we can just clear that up, I’ll get out of your way.”
Though I was still standing on the porch with the screen door between us, I caught sight of something over the doctor’s shoulder. It was Mrs. James descending the stairs with a suitcase.
Dr. James turned around. “Where are you going?” he asked her.
She set the suitcase down in the wide foyer and went to fetch a coat off a hook in the back hall. “I’m leaving.”
Dr. James strode toward her. I immediately pulled the screen door open and stepped inside.
“No, you’re not,” he harshly said. “You can’t leave.”
Mrs. James donned her coat and began to button it. “Yes, I can. It’s my choice and I’m leaving with Josh.”
“But we’re not done talking about this.”
“We’ve been talking about it for weeks, Robert,” she said. “Years, in fact.” She picked up her suitcase and started walking toward me at the door. “You know I want us both to visit Riley, but you won’t even consider it. It’s not fair. We always do what you want us to do, but you never bend an inch for us. It’s your way or the highway. And today I’m taking the highway.”
“Margie, wait…”
“And I’ve asked you a thousand times to come to therapy with me, but you won’t do that either.”
He followed her to the door. “I don’t need a therapist.”
She stopped and whirled around. “So you’ve said. But I think you need it more than anyone. I’m just in therapy to help me figure out how to cope with you!”
He grabbed hold of her arm but she roughly shook him off. “Don’t touch me, Robert!”
He blinked at her in shock as she turned and followed me out the front door and down the steps. We walked quickly to my car and got in.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she tried to buckle her seatbelt. “Yes. Thank you for coming to get me.”
“It was no problem.” I waited until she was buckled in before I backed out. “Do you know where you want to go? Do you have friends or family you’d like to call, besides Holly?”
“My family lives in New York,” she replied. “I was thinking I might go to a hotel for tonight.”
“You don’t have to do that.” I glanced in the rearview mirror. Dr. James was watching us from outside on the covered veranda as we pulled away. “You can stay at my place until Holly gets home. Then I’ll take you over there.”
She closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the headrest. “Thank you, Josh. That’s very kind of you.”
As I drove out of the neighborhood, I glanced at her with concern. “Are you sure you’re all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
She lifted her head and looked at me. “No. That’s at least one thing I can honestly say: He’s never laid a violent hand on me. But I’ve seen him do it to others, you and Riley included, so I’ve never felt a hundred percent confident that he wouldn’t eventually lose his temper with me.” She gazed out the window. “He was pretty angry today. We’ve never fought like that before. It was partly my fault, I suppose, because I didn’t back down this time, but if I had to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. I just wish he had agreed to see Riley. Or at least to go and talk to someone about all this.”
I gave her a moment to collect herself. “You can stay with me as long as you need to, Mrs. James.”
“Thank you, Josh,” she said, looking straight ahead, “but I’ll be booking a flight to Montana this evening and leaving the city as soon as I can. I don’t know what it’ll mean for my marriage, but surprisingly, I don’t really care. All I want to do is see my son.”