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He walked into the apartment, dreading the moment he would have to face his wife and tell her what had happened. When he entered the living room, he noticed the red light flashing on the answering machine and hit the message button.
"Hi, honey, it's me. Tried to catch you at work, but you'd already left. I got called in on an emergency surgery. Don't know when I'll be home. Should be something to eat in the fridge. I love you."
Peter felt guilty about the wave of relief that flooded over him. (Maybe this'll give me time to figure out how to tell her about losing my ring.} "Where the hell is it?" he grumbled to himself.
He fixed a simple supper and crawled into bed early. {Maybe I'll have a clearer head in the morning}. He didn't remember his head touching the pillow.
He woke up the next morning and automatically reached out an arm for Kacie. He felt the indentation in the pillow where her head had been and he sat up suddenly, rubbing his eyes sleepily before the sound of the shower running caught his ear. He was still trying to wake up when Kacie came out of the bathroom wrapped in a terrycloth robe and toweling her hair dry as she walked. She sat down on a chair before the vanity and started to comb out the tangles.
"Morning," he rasped hoarsely, his voice still thick with sleep. "What time did you get home last night?"
"Around eleven. What time did you go to bed? You didn't even twitch when I crawled in."
"I think around nine." He scratched his head and yawned widely. "Man, I just crashed. I didn't get much sleep the night before."
"I'll bet not," she answered shortly, deftly winding her hair into a braid down the back of her head. She glanced at him in the reflection of the mirror. "You better get hopping. It's almost eight."
"Oh, Jeez!" he yelped. "I'm gonna be late, and I'm due in court today." He threw back the covers and leaped from the bed. By the time he'd finished shaving and showering, Kacie was completely dressed and ready to head out the door.
"Hey, wait," he protested. "What's your hurry this morning?"
She paused briefly and looked at him over her shoulder. "Got a few errands to run before work today."
"Where's my morning hug and kiss?" he pouted.
She turned and walked over to him, dutifully giving him a perfunctory kiss. "Gotta go. See you." With that, she was gone.
He frowned and stared at the door she had closed behind herself. {That wasn't exactly the warmest reception I've ever had.} He glanced down at his bare left hand and flushed guiltily, catching his breath and muttering, "Oh shit. I wonder if she noticed my ring was gone. Christ. This is not going to be my day."
It was after five when Broderick disturbed Peter at his desk. "Got a message for you, Pete. Kacie says to meet her at Chandler's when you get off work."
Looking up in surprise Peter asked, "Why didn't she talk to me herself?"
The sergeant shrugged. "Beats me. She just called the desk and said to give the message to you."
Peter rubbed his index over his upper lip in thought. "Hmm. Guess I'm glad she wants to see me, but it's weird that she didn't ask to talk to me."
"Don't know, Pete. I'm just a messenger boy around here." Broderick wheeled away and retreated to his position at the front desk.
Peter thought a moment longer before mentally shrugging and finishing up the report he had been working on.
By six o'clock the table was nearly full with the detectives from the 101st, with several others from the precinct sitting at the bar.
Peter made a point of holding his glass in his right hand and felt more than a little ashamed by the deception. {I'm gonna tell Kacie all about the ring when we get home tonight,} he vowed to himself. {She'll understand...I hope}.
A somber looking Kacie that joined their table around six thirty. Peter had learned to recognize the signs when work had not gone well. He jumped to his feet and slid out the chair he had saved for her, leaving an arm around the back of it, lightly resting it against her shoulders. "Rough day, Hon?"
"Yeah...kinda," she said glumly. "It's been one of 'those days' all day long."
"We don't have to stay if you don't want."
"It's fine," she said with an edge to her voice. She quietly accepted the club soda Terry automatically brought her, and then sat without saying much.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Peter asked again in low undertones a few minutes later.
"I'm just tired, OK?" she said irritably. "Stop fussing over me. I don't like it."
He pulled away his arm and sat back in his chair at the rebuff. "If you're so tired, why did you tell me to meet you here instead of just going home?"
She shot him a look over her glass. "I didn't tell you to come here. I got your message that said you wanted to meet me here."
"I didn't leave you any messages."
"Well, I didn't leave you one. And if that's the case, I'm going home. I don't feel very sociable." Kacie got to her feet and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Don't hurry home on my account," she added frostily.
He watched her turn off at the bathrooms and his brow furrowed in bewilderment and consternation. {She's never acted like this before. What's her problem tonight?}, he asked himself.
Sara Rezac sidled in the bathroom door and found Kacie washing her hands at the sink. The detective retrieved a brush from her purse and pulled it through her hair in long smooth strokes, watching Kacie's reflection in the mirror as she spoke. "You're Peter Caine's wife, aren't you?"
Kacie carefully wiped her hands dry. "Yes." Her eyes met Sara's in the mirror. "And you are?"
"Sara Rezac. I was on the stakeout with Peter the other night at the Marriott."
Kacie gave her the once over, taking in the tight sweater and short leather skirt. "Really?"
"Yeah, I'm sure he told you all about it, didn't he?" Rezac stopped, as if embarrassed. "Oops. Then again, maybe he didn't."
"Peter doesn't discuss his cases with me. The matter of a little thing called confidentiality." Kacie threw the paper towel into the trash and stepped toward the door.
"Oh, well, sure, goes without saying," Sara agreed. "Say, I think I owe you an apology." She put her brush into her purse and pulled out a lipstick, carefully applying it to her already painted lips.
"What for?" Kacie stopped in mid-stride and looked over her shoulder at Sara.
"Well, I mean, it was pretty late when Peter got in, wasn't it?"
"So?"
Sara shrugged. "If I have to spell it out for you: I doubt that he was feeling too energetic when he got home."
Kacie's eyes narrowed and she turned slowly to face Sara. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, Honey, I mean a man has only so much to give in one night. I'm afraid Peter had pretty well used up his...quota...before he got home to you."
The color drained from Kacie's face. "What are you trying to say?"
Sara laughed derisively. "You really are dense, aren't you? If I have to spell it out for you, Peter and I had ourselves quite an evening. First time I haven't minded being on an overnight stakeout." She closed her eyes and growled deep in her throat. "God! I kept thinking the manager was going to walk in and throw us out for making too much noise. I was afraid I'd die before we'd finished, and then I was afraid I wouldn't."
Kacie stood in frozen silence, eyes wide and disbelieving.
"Don't believe me, huh? Well then, tell me how I'd know about the way his eyes roll back and he yells just when he's about to..."
"Stop it!" Kacie's breath rattled harshly in her throat. "Stop it. I don't want to hear any more." Trembling from head to toe she backed toward the door. "You're lying. There's no way you were with my husband like that."
"Oh really? What makes you say that?"
Kacie's lip curled and she sneered, "Because he has an aversion to touching things that are diseased."
Rezac snickered. "Oo-o. Snappy comeback. I'm crushed." She recapped her lipstick and dropped it into her purse. "Say," she exclaimed as she rummaged through her bag and withdrew a small object. "Give this back to Peter for me, wouldja? I guess he forgot he took it off the other night."
Kacie stared dumbly at the gold band lying in the middle of the woman's palm.
Peter had just set his glass of beer back on the table when he looked up to see Kacie marching his way. Her face was chalk-white and her eyes blazed in cold fury. The muscles in her throat constricted as she hissed, "I believe this is yours," and plopped something into his drink before wheeling around and fleeing the room.
He stared in shocked silence at the shiny golden band sitting in the bottom of his beer mug, and after a dazed moment, thrust his fingers into the glass and pulled out his missing ring. He wiped it off on a napkin with hands that weren't quite steady and lurched to his feet while sliding the ring back on his finger.
By the time he'd reached the parking lot, he heard squealing tires at the end of the drive and saw a red Saturn tearing off down the street. He ran to the Stealth and unlocked the door; jumping into the driver's seat and praying that Kacie was heading home and wouldn't kill herself or anyone else on the way.
Panic receded when Peter saw the Saturn in its usual parking place. When he reached the apartment door, he turned the knob and nearly fell inside in his rush to enter. Kacie was huddled in a corner of the couch, knees drawn up to her chin and arms wrapped around them. She looked at him once, eyes filled with anger and betrayal, before turning away her head.
Peter sat next to her on the couch and reached for her.
"Don't...you...dare...touch...me!" she ground out through gritted teeth.
He jerked back his hand and begged, "Kacie, Honey, let me explain."
She jumped up from the couch and walked across the room, her stiffened back to him.
"Kacie, here did you find my ring?"
She whirled and spat, "It sure as hell wasn't on your finger where it belonged! You care to explain why not?"
"I took it off the night of the stakeout," he explained. "I gave it to Frank for safekeeping, and-and-and I was in such a hurry to get home to you that night, I forgot about it. The next morning it was gone. Strenlich said he'd put it in my desk drawer, but we-he-I couldn't find it anywhere. We tore my desk and the whole squad room apart looking for it," he added desperately. He paused to take a shaky breath. "I-I-I meant to tell you about it last night, but I fell asleep before you got home. And then-then-then I was going to tell you tonight after work, and I got that message to meet you at Chandler's. I was gonna tell you all about it in private after we got home."
"I told you before. I did not call you," her voice rose angrily.
Peter pushed himself off the couch and eased near her. "I want to know where you got my ring," he demanded. "It didn't walk to Chandler's."
"Your...partner...from the other night gave it to me."
"Partner?"
"Detective Rezac. She gave it to me in the bathroom and said you must have forgotten it the night you were together." She inhaled sharply and glared at him. "You neglected to mention the together part, Peter."
Peter scrubbed a hand across his face. "There was no together between her and me."
"She wasn't your partner on the stakeout?"
"No...I mean, yes...I mean..."
Kacie regarded him coldly. "Were you or were you not with her on that stakeout?"
"Yes, I was partnered with her. No, we were not together. Not the way you're making it sound."
"And how am I making it sound?"
His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "You think I slept with her, don't you?"
"Didn't you?"
"You think I'd do that to you? To us?"
"Right now I don't know what to think." She folded her arms across her chest and stared down at the foot that had started scuffing the carpet.
Peter shakily lowered himself into the nearest chair, staring at her with hurt-filled eyes. "You don't believe me. First you think I'd be unfaithful to you, and now you think I'd lie to you."
Kacie's head snapped up and she glared at him, angry tears shining in her eyes. "She said you had sex with her. My God, how could she know what she did about you otherwise?"
"I don't know!" Suddenly furious, Peter leaped to his feet and shouted, "I don't know! Hell, maybe she talked to Kelly Blake or somebody, I don't know. Maybe she just made a lucky guess! What I do know is that she threw herself at me time after time until I was ready to shoot her. But I did not sleep with her, you hear me? I...did...not!"
Kacie's shoulders sagged and she rubbed her temples with her fingertips, whispering something unintelligible.
"What?" Peter snapped.
"I know." She raised her head to look at him, features twisting as she fought for control. "I know you didn't." She gulped for a breath and choked on a sob.
"If you know that, why are you so mad?" He stepped closer to her, reaching for her, yet hesitating to touch her without permission.
"I'm jealous, all right?"
"Jealous? Of what?"
"It's stupid, and I know it, but I'm jealous of every woman you've ever made love to. I hate it! I hate it that anyone else but me has ever touched you, that you've ever touched them. I hate it!"
Peter closed his eyes and let his head rock back. "Kacie, you knew..."
She stormed about the room, gesturing wildly. "I know I knew! Don't you think I know how insane feeling like this is? I remember what I told you the morning after our wedding night. And I meant it, I did. But to have this woman throw it in my face; remind me of the fact you've made love to other women? I don't know. All I know is that I'm jealous, and I'm mad at you. I'm mad at me for being mad at you."
"What do you want from me?"
"What I can never have! Being the only one for you, ever!"
"You are the only one ever."
She laughed shortly. "How you say that?"
"Because you are the only one I have ever truly loved." His eyes were filled with regret as he looked at her. "It wasn't until I met you that I saw how shallow every other relationship I'd ever had with a woman was. I had sex with them. I used them; they used me. I never really loved them. Not the way I love you. They never loved me. Not like you do." His head dropped and he shook it slowly. "I never shared my soul with them. There was never anything that really meant anything between them and me. I..." He stopped and inhaled with a deep shuddering sigh. "I wish I had waited until you. But I didn't. And I can't change that."
She looked at him sadly. "I know."
His voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry."
"Me, too." She brushed away her tears with the back of her hand. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He made no move to stop her as she walked into the bedroom and closed the door.
Peter hesitated a moment, then resolutely opened the door to the spare room and entered, shutting the door quietly behind himself. He undressed slowly, his movements stiff and slow. Crawling into bed he lay on his back, arms crossed over the top of his head as he lay staring up at the ceiling.
He had no idea how long he had been dozing when the sound of a door opening woke him. His heart stopped and he stiffened, listening with every sense alert. As he waited to hear the front door open and close he thought sickly, {She's leaving me.} The door to his room opened, and a silent form slipped inside. He felt light-headed as he held his breath and waited for his heart to begin beating again.
Kacie slipped under the covers and scrabbled over to his side, laying her head on his chest and curling around his body as she shivered.
Peter let out his breath in a long, shuddering sigh and folded his arms around her. His lips brushed her forehead and he pulled the covers over her and held her tightly. "You're freezing."
She rubbed her cheek against his collarbone before speaking in a voice that shook with emotion. "I was lying there in our bed, and I suddenly got to thinking about what a life without you would be like." She clung to him as her shivering increased. "It scared me. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you. My life, my world, would end without you." She kissed the pulse at the base of his neck. "I love you."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not leaving me. For coming to me like this."
She snuggled closer. "Peter, I'm sorry for being so..."
"Sh-h-h," he commanded. "I don't want to talk. I just want to lie here and hold you and think about how much I love you and how lucky I am to still have you."
"You'll always have me, because I'm not letting you go."
"Till death do us part?"
"Not even then."
Peter and Kacie awoke without benefit of alarm and lay quietly in the early morning stillness; their bodies spooned together, Kacie's back to Peter's chest. He threaded his fingers through hers and spoke into her ear. "Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything, Peter." She drew his fingers to her lips and kissed them. "And this morning, I'm pretty sure I can be a reasonable human being again."
"When did you know my ring was gone?"
"That first night when you came home."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I was waiting for you to tell me about it."
He chuckled softly. "Just giving me enough rope to hang myself, huh?"
"No..." she answered slowly. "Well, maybe...yeah...a little. I thought that you'd explain things right away, but you didn't." She rolled over in his arms to face him. "It didn't really bother me so much until yesterday morning. I kept waiting for you to tell me, but you just snuck around and acted skunky about it."
"I didn't know how to tell you," he confessed. "I was afraid you'd be mad at me, and I hate it when we fight."
"Me too. Let's not ever do it again, OK?"
He kissed her warmly. "You won't get any argument from me there."
Kacie frowned. "How do you think that woman got her hands on your ring?"
Peter's face set in grim lines as he growled ominously, "I don't know, but that's the first thing I'm going to find out when I get to work today."