and along came SPIDER ( A Martina Spalding Thriller ) (Spider Series Book 1) Read online

  “Somebody stole it?”

  “I don’t know where else it could have gone. Everything else was there when I brought it up.” She laughed. “It only happened that once, though.”

  “Wow!” Marti said, wondering who would have done such a thing as the two of them moved along.

  Then about half way down the five flights of stairs it dawned on Marti that her moving in may put a crimp in Gloria’s lifestyle. Just because Gloria wasn’t married any longer didn’t mean she was going without regular, or even occasional, sex.

  “Gloria?”

  “Yes, dear. What?”

  “I just want you to know how much I appreciate you doing this. If it weren’t for you I’d probably be somewhere farther up the road by now. So if you’re ever in need of some privacy, just tell me and I’ll disappear… even if it means I spend the night in a hotel.”

  “Why would I need privacy?”

  “You know. In case you have a lover or something.”

  Gloria laughed. “That won’t happen. Not in the apartment, anyway.”

  Satisfied with that, Marti said no more until they got to the street. “Well, if it ever happens, my offer still stands.”

  With that Gloria stopped walking and turned to face her. “Okay, Martina, just so you don’t get the wrong idea about me, I do have a lover. But you’ll never see him, okay? He’ll never come to the apartment, nor will you ever see us together, anywhere.” Having said that, Gloria continued on.

  “Is he invisible?” Marti said, as a joke.

  Gloria laughed. “Yes, he’s invisible.”

  “Is he married?”

  “I won’t answer that.”

  “I think you already have.”

  “Okay, Martina, he’s married. But it’s not like you think. This is not something that’s apt to break up a marriage. We get what we need from each other, and that’s it. We have absolutely nothing else in common. We don’t even like the same music. Hell, we don’t even like each other.”

  “Oh, my!”

  “Yeah. Oh my!” Gloria laughed again.

  Martina got her things from the hotel into her car in the hotel parking lot, and then the two of them walked on to Hannity’s as was previously planned. On the way through to the back, Marti kept an eye out for Parker Thomas. She really didn’t expect to see him, however, since it had only been three hours since he’d left the bar, and he was pretty exhausted. Most likely he was at home catching up on his sleep.

  “Hey, did you hear the one about the Rabi that does circumcisions, just for tips?” Lenny came up as they seated themselves.

  Gloria erupted with a throaty laugh. Martina, however, remained confused as to what was so funny…

  “What are we having today, girls?” Lenny quickly asked, fearing, by her expression, he had offended Martina.

  “I don’t get it,” Marti finally said, looking back and forth to the two of them for an explanation.

  “Okay, you’re a nurse right?” Lenny said.

  “I am,” Martina went along.

  “So then you know what a circumcision is?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what’s left over afterward?”

  “Foreskin?” Marti said, blankly and looked to the two of them, again. Then, like a light went on in the room, it dawned on her. “Oh, my God! Tips! I can’t believe I’m so dumb.”

  This time they all laughed. That is, until Martina sobered again and asked, “But why does the Rabi want them? I always thought those things were discarded.”

  This, of course, brought even more laughter form Lenny and Gloria, again leaving Martina awaiting an answer, if there was one to be had.

  “Oh God, bring us a bottle of champagne, Lenny,” Gloria gasped. “We’re celebrating Martina’s new job. She’s now officially a Spenhonur!”

  “A what?” Marti asked. “Don’t tell me this is going to make me look stupid again?”

  “No, honey. It stands for Spencer House Nurse — Spen-Ho-Nur,” Gloria explained.

  “Oh! I don’t know if I like being called that.” Marti was un-amused.

  “Well, honey, there are some things in life that are just unavoidable. You’ll hear it often among the staff over there, so you’d best get used to it.”

  “You want the good stuff or the el-cheapo?” Lenny asked.

  “Give us the good stuff, Lenny,” Gloria responded. “I’m buying.”

  “Spenhonur!” Martina wrinkled her nose in distaste.

  ABOUT A MONTH LATER

  July, 1955

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The first four weeks at Spencer House were a breeze for Marti. She not only loved the job, she adored the other nurses she’d met on four of the floors she spent time on. The only problem was, she would be leaving them and moving on to the four pm to midnight shift starting Monday.

  Gloria was disappointed as well. She had become accustomed to the two of them having similar hours. Now it would be like living alone again, Martina being at work while she was off, and vice versa. Otherwise, they would both be sleeping. But they would have the weekends together, at least for a while.

  Gloria had offered to talk to Scott Harris about it, but Martina asked her not to. It was against her nature to accept special treatment of any kind. Besides, if she was ever to know the entire workings of Spencer House, which was her desire, the gamut of possibilities would need to be experienced.

  In the month Marti had been here, she had not been assigned operating room duty once. But that was soon to change, Mary Greer promised, starting immediately. From now on, any emergency or previously unscheduled surgery during her shift would include her.

  Once Marti’s last day shift was over Friday afternoon, she passed by Gloria’s desk in the lobby on the way out of the building. She had changed out of her uniform in the nurse’s locker room and was now on her way to Hannity’s.

  “I’ll be a little late today, Martina,” Gloria said. “But you have fun. I’ll see you there in a couple of hours, okay?”

  “Sure. See you then.” Marti walked away with the feeling something wasn’t quite right, but something like this happened about once a week, and again she let it pass without question.

  Entering Hannity’s, she made her way to the back, paying little attention to the regular crowd that gathered near the front. Seeing the middle-aged blond bartender, whose name she had learned just last week, was on duty, Marti ordered a Budweiser on the way past.

  Selecting a stool near the end of the bar, she sat her purse down and seated herself. The beer came directly thereafter.

  “Thanks, Summer.”

  “It’s on the man down the bar, honey.” Everybody was honey to Summer. Marti had noticed that over the past month of coming in after work near every day.

  Easing her eyes in that direction, only one face looked familiar. And she actually had to study that one for a moment before figuring out who he was. It was then he pushed away from the group there and walked toward her.

  “Hello, Doc.”

  “Parker! Is that you?”

  “In the flesh.”

  “Where have you been?” She smiled, amazed at how much better he looked cleaned up, and said so. “You look spiffy.”

  “So do you, Doc,” he said, returning the smile. “Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve been out since I saw you last. We have been going near non-stop at work.”

  “Maybe you ought to find another line of work then,” Marti suggested and took a drink of her beer.

  “Miss me?” he said, leaning in to face her, putting his arms on the bar.

  “How can I miss someone that doesn’t exist? At least no one here seems to know who Parker Thomas is!” She reached over and squeezed his muscular arm. “Just checking!”

  “So, you did miss me?” He laughed.

  “Well, I wasn’t going out of my way to save my virginity for you, if that’s what you want to know.” Marti laughed with him.

  “You know, if you would have asked for McLean, you�
��d have fared better. Most everybody here knows me by that.”

  Marti was confused. “I thought your name was Parker Thomas?”

  “Parker Thomas McLean,” he clarified. “In college they called me Mister Clean. But, that may partly have been because I wore my hair clipped short for football.”

  “Mister Clean it is then.” She tapped her bottle to his, sitting on the bar, and took a drink.

  “Oh, no! I’m not going back to… Look Doc, you can call me anything you want, just not that, okay?”

  Marti laughed. “Why not?” she teased. “I like it.”

  Parker was fun to chat with, but when seven pm rolled around, Marti was getting a little hungry and wondered what had delayed Gloria.

  Seeing her check her watch, Parker asked, “Is there somewhere you have to be?”

  “Not exactly. It’s just that I’m getting a little hungry and…”

  “Let me take you somewhere nice and buy you dinner,” he offered. “What kind of food do you like?”

  “That’s a really generous offer, Parker. Thank you. But I have a friend that’s supposed to meet me here,” Marti said concernedly and again looked toward the door.

  “Should I disappear, Doc?”

  “Why?” She glanced up to him — saw the disappointment on his face. “Oh, no! It’s my roommate, silly. I’m sure she’ll be along any minute.”

  “Well, since you can’t leave, then at least let me buy you one of Hannity’s World Famous, guaranteed to bust a gut if you eat it all, Sausage Dogs.” Parker laughed.

  “I will if you share it with me.”

  “What will it be then: cheese, chili, kraut, half kraut — half chili, chili cheese, or the works?” he read from the menu on the wall.

  “I haven’t tried the works.” Marti acquired a puzzled look.

  “Are you feeling adventurous, Doc?” Parker made a point of looking into her sparkling hazel eyes.

  “I am!” Martina giggled, something she hadn’t done in years, and it surprised her. And she was feeling adventurous, at least where Parker was concerned. Now she wondered where all of this would eventually lead.

  Lenny thought better of saying his usual, “spread’em wide,” when delivering the near foot long sausage on an enormous bun, topped with everything including onions and pickle wedges. He didn’t want to risk embarrassing Martina in the presence of her newfound friend. In all Lenny’s years of being a bartender, he had become astute at spotting newly acquainted couples from the careful attention they paid each other. And the affection displayed thus far between these two told him a romance was definitely brewing.

  Putting out forks and napkins, Lenny, finding he couldn’t help himself did, however, say, “Eat it, or beat it!”

  Hearing this, Parker glanced to Marti. She seemed not to notice, but rather busied herself at picking onions off the divided half of the sausage dog closest to her, on a single platter.

  Seeing their beers were near drained, without asking, Lenny brought fresh ones. “These are on me, kiddos.” His eyes produced a Santa Claus twinkle.

  “Now, can you beat that?” Marti said, with a sheepish smile to let them both know, even with her mind being on extreme hunger, worry over Gloria’s prolonged absence, and the notion she may soon be giving up her virginity, she wasn’t completely absent of her surroundings.

  This brought amused laughter from both men, as she smartly took the first bite.

  When eight o’clock rolled around and Gloria still hadn’t showed, Marti was beside herself. As of now, Gloria was two hours later than she had ever been before when delayed. Then, as if by some miracle, she came strolling up.

  “Hi!” she said, as if trying to sound cheerful.

  Marti noticed immediately that Gloria was not only wearing a different outfit than what she had on at work, but her hair was brushed differently and she wore strange sunglasses that hid her eyes near completely.

  “Gloria, where have you been? I was worried!” Martina came off the stool and embraced her friend. Close up she noticed a red mark on her forehead the brushed down hair was obviously meant to hide. “Oh my God! What happened?” She reached to finger aside the hair.

  Gloria, seeing what was about to occur, pushed away. “It’s nothing, really. I was reaching for some high boxes at work and they fell on me. I’ll be fine.”

  Being there wasn’t an available stool, Parker hopped off his and guided Gloria onto it.

  “Thank you,” she said, giving him just a glance.

  “Gloria, that gentleman’s name is Parker,” Marti said, still looking Gloria over, just knowing she must be hiding more damage beneath the shades and God only knows where else. And why the change of clothes? Had there been bleeding?

  “Are you two…” Gloria’s finger went back and forth between Marti and Parker, who was now standing at Marti’s back, “friends?”

  With that, Marti looked to Parker and said, “Yes. I guess we are friends…” She smiled broadly back to Gloria.

  “Now, that calls for a celebration.” Gloria whirled to catch Lenny’s eye down the bar.

  “No Gloria. Not yet!” Marti was quick to say. Somehow Gloria must have mistakenly assumed her and Parker had popped the cork on her virginity. That, of course, had not happened. And as much as she wanted it to, it probably wouldn’t for a while. She barely knew the man. Nor could it have happened. And Gloria should have known that, since she had hardly been out of her sight since moving into her apartment, except for the few hours today.

  Gloria then responded with, “Oh!” and seemed a bit disoriented. “Well, when then? What are you two waiting for?”

  “Gloria, please!” Marti flashed Parker a concerned look and turned back to Gloria. “I think I ought to get you home. I don’t think you’re well, dear.”

  “I am feeling a bit woozy,” Gloria said, touching her brow. “Maybe just one drink first.”

  This entire exchange had left Parker McLean totally confused and looking blankly to each of them for some sort of explanation. That, of course, never came.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Entering the apartment at ten, Gloria said, “You should have stayed with your friend. He wanted you to. I could tell.”

  “I’m going to dinner with him tomorrow night,” Marti replied. “You’re welcome to come along if you want? Parker made a point of extending that offer. He’s such a gentleman.”

  “No, you go ahead. I’m not tagging along on your date like some big sister.” Gloria turned both locks on the door behind them and attached the chain for added security.

  Marti watched her do it, then asked, “Now, do you want to tell me what really happened to you earlier?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Martina,” Gloria said and abruptly headed off for her bedroom.

  “That story you told about the boxes just doesn’t add up.” Marti followed her in. “And why do you still have those silly sunglasses on?”

  “Get out, Martina!” Gloria turned just inside the room and reached to close the door.

  That was when Martina saw the dress Gloria had worn to work that day in a pile on the bedroom floor and picked it up for closer examination. “What’s this!” she said, noticing immediately it was in shreds, as if violently ripped from her body. “Did the falling boxes do this as well?” She held the dress out to her.

  With that, Gloria climbed onto her bed, flopped on her back, pulled a pillow over her face and began to cry.

  Feeling bad now for what she’d done, Marti sat on the edge of the bed, reached out, and gently touched Gloria’s arm. “If there’s a mad man out there, then we need to call the police.”

  “No. I can’t do that.” Gloria pulled away from her touch, as if pained by it.

  “Why not?”

  “Because he’ll kill me if I do that!” Gloria exclaimed, and sat up onto the edge of the bed.

  “Do you know him?”

  “Of course I know him! He’s my most recent ex.”

  �
��So that’s your mysterious lover? Your ex? Why, Gloria?”

  “Because he said after the divorce that if I didn’t continue to have regular sex with him, he would see to it nobody ever wanted me again. And as a down payment on that threat, he knocked out one of my teeth. It cost me five hundred dollars to get a replacement.”

  “Oh my God!” Martina screamed and covered her mouth in shock. “So what set him off, today?”

  “I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore. I said I’d tell his new wife if he persisted.” Gloria removed the sunglasses exposing two very black and blue eyes.

  “Oh, Gloria,” she grimaced, “you have to call the cops!”

  “That’s not all, get a gander at this!” Gloria slid off the bed and pulled her top up over her head, exposing a mass of bruising on her upper body and back. “And no, I’m not calling the cops, Martina. He’s rich. He has lawyers that’ll have him back out on the street before you can say Jack Robinson. Then he’ll come for me again. Or he’ll send someone else to do the job.”

  “What? Try to kill you?”

  “Exactly!” She put on a robe and went to the kitchen. There she took two beers from the fridge and handed one to Martina on her way into the living room. “His previous wife was fished from the Mississippi River, on the Illinois side, one month after she divorced him. She had a bullet hole in her head. I didn’t find that out until after we were married. By that time it was too late. He started with the threats nearly on day one.”

  “Oh…my…gosh, Gloria! What will you ever do?” Martina was panicked now and began pacing back and forth in front of her.

  “There’s nothing I can do!” Her mouth feeling suddenly dry, she gulped some of the beer. “I have this feeling I’m dead either way now, cops or no cops.”

  “There must be something we can do?” Marti’s mind was a whirl of possibilities. No way was she going to sit idly by and let this animal kill her best friend in cold blood. Just the thought of such a thing happening to Gloria nauseated her.

  “I don’t want you getting involved, Martina.”