by PJ Fernor
“Allie?”
I stared down at the woman.
“Allie… Down…?”
I heard fingers snap.
I turned my head.
“You okay?” Ben asked.
“No,” I said. “I’m not okay at all, Ben. I’ve been working for months to clean up the mess left by Laura. I’ve been trying to get the trust of this town back in order. Wanting everyone to feel safe and comfortable. I wanted to go into the fall this year and enjoy it. The biggest problem I’m supposed to have is when Trevor asks Lo to go on a hayride. One of those during the night hayrides where it’s cold and couples cuddle up.”
“I never did that,” Ben said.
“Yeah, well…”
I did. I did with Tommy. And didn’t pay attention to the hayride at all.
I moved my eyes back to the woman on the ground.
I crouched down again and for some reason, I wanted to get closer to her feet. Like I didn’t believe this was possible.
“Two women,” I whispered.
“You know what the obvious question is right now,” Ben said.
I nodded. “Where’s the other woman?” I scanned left to the right. “She’s got to be around here somewhere.”
“Should we go for a walk?” Ben asked.
I stood up and took a breath. “I don’t think we have a choice. Let’s split up.”
“I don’t like that idea.”
“You go that way” - I ignored Ben’s worry and pointed - “and I’m going this way…”
Ben went south, I went north.
East was back to the road and Mrs. Mickels’ house. West would be untouched for now.
“We don’t go too far,” I called out to Ben. “Make sure we can backtrack to this spot.”
“You got it,” Ben said.
I pushed through some of the thick brush and trees.
A few branches I touched, the leaves began to scatter.
Falling around me and on me.
What could have been an enjoyable autumn moment instead had my eyes searching for another body.
“Two bodies,” I whispered.
It maybe made sense that they would dump bodies out here.
This was a quiet part of Sandemor. There was practically no traffic. This was an overgrown piece of land that had no plans of ever being developed. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, if it wasn’t for Mrs. Mickels…
I shook my head.
That wasn’t completely true.
Whoever did this, if they wanted to get away with it, they would have just left the bodies and disappeared. They cut off a foot and placed it in a pumpkin. They wanted someone to find the pumpkin and find the foot. Whoever did this wanted attention. That meant we-
“Allie!” Ben’s voice boomed through the woods.
I spun around and started to run.
Thin branches smacked me in the face but I didn’t care.
I made it to the first body in a few seconds.
Then I saw Ben appear across from me.
“Did you find her?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said.
I ran toward him, around the other murdered woman, and into the woods again.
“There she is,” Ben said, pointing.
The second woman was face down.
Dressed in similar clothing as the first one.
Meaning these two were out for a walk or run or some kind of exercise together.
My eyes moved to her feet.
Or I should say… foot.
This woman was missing her right foot.
Blood on the ground. A bloody sock and shoe tossed a few inches from her body.
“Okay,” I said. “At least we have both now. Get Muldavey back in here to start looking and marking. I need to…”
My phone began to ring.
It was Johnny calling.
I looked at Ben. “It’s Johnny. I’m going to answer it. We might just need to pull him in on this right away. We don’t have time.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. Makes sense. I’ll look around here.”
I walked back to the clearing where the first body was and took Johnny’s call.
“Have you thought about me lately?” Johnny asked.
“I’m preoccupied,” I said, looking down at the woman with the large cut on her throat.
I wasn’t sure how the other woman was murdered as she was face down.
“How are you?” Johnny asked.
“Not all that great. Do you have any information on my sister’s death?”
“Nothing else yet.”
“Then I’m going to hang up, Johnny.”
“Whoa,” he said. “No five-minute banter?”
“Believe me, I’d rather talk to you than deal with what’s in front of me…”
“Bad day?”
“Becoming worse by the second,” I said.
“Let me take you out for a drink.”
“Johnny… not now.”
“What’s going on over there?”
“You really want to know? Someone was murdered.”
“Murdered?”
“Yeah. And actually we just discovered it was two murders. The bodies not that far apart.”
“Oh, Allie, that’s… that’s terrible.”
“I need to go, Johnny,” I said.
“Hey, wait a second,” he said. “Give me some more details.”
“Let me get things set up here and I’ll call you back. I might need your help.”
“Allie, hold up. Tell me more really quick.”
“Johnny, I don’t have much. It’s two women. Judging by their clothes they look like they were walking or running. I have no idea where they were, where they’re from, or how they got here.”
“You said two women?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah.”
“In exercise clothes?”
“Yes, Johnny.”
He let out a huh sound.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, I, uh, just got something on my desk not too long ago.”
“About?”
“Two women. Who went out for a run. And they never came back.”
My heart sank.
I looked down at the first woman.
“Johnny…”
“Yeah,” he said. “I think we’re thinking the same thing, Allie.”
I nodded. “I think I could use that drink right about now.”
Chapter Seventeen
He sits on the floor and ties his shoes.
One at a time. Whispering to himself in his head.
Singing old songs from when he was a kid.
Songs where he can’t remember the words, so he makes them up.
He needs this walk right now.
He desperately needs this walk right now.
When he looks at his hands, he thinks about murder.
“I’ve killed…”
It happens.
He shakes his head.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not like that. I know what I think. I know what I feel. Or at least I thought I did. Now it all feels different.”
I tried to warn you, didn’t I? I tried to stop you. I did all that I could but you refused to listen. I’m sorry, but I have no sympathy for you. And for the record, a walk isn’t going to fix a thing. It won’t fix a thing!
He climbs to his feet and brushes his hands to his pants.
“I think it’ll help a lot.”
He opens the door and steps outside.
The air is colder during the night now.
Soon enough it’ll snow.
There’s always snow in October here.
There was always something magical about seeing a light dusting of snow on pumpkins too. Like the holidays were rubbing against one another.
He takes a deep breath. “A walk will do me just fine.”
A walk won’t do a thing! You’re going to pretend to be distant and fine, but it’s going to eat you alive. I warned you. I warned you not to go too far
. But you-
He sticks earbuds into his ears.
There’s music already playing.
Classical piano.
He shuts his eyes and smiles.
He shuts the door behind him.
Now it’s perfect.
Just him and the music.
He put his hands out and wiggles his fingers as though he’s playing the music dancing into his ears.
He wishes he would have learned piano.
Maybe he could have been a piano player. Touring the world.
Instead…
He starts to walk.
He refuses to call himself a murderer.
His walk takes him to a familiar path.
There are images flashing in his mind.
He fights them off.
He does enjoy the walk.
It’s a wonderful walk.
A happy couple jog by him, both wearing lights on their foreheads.
He waves.
They wave.
Life goes on.
A part of him thought… how odd life can be. Those two people who just ran by. What did they eat for dinner? When they’re done running, will they shower separately? Or will they shower together as a couple in love, riding the high of exercising?
At the same time, if it were just a day earlier, they would have suffered the same fate as those two women.
He stops walking and takes a breath.
Gosh, life was so frail.
He looks at his hands.
Hands that could love someone. Hands that could kill someone.
He turns around and begins to walk home.
The enjoyment of the walk is now gone.
He feels tired.
He feels nauseous.
He’s not sure what he wants to do next.
Sleep? Kill again?
Or maybe just get something to eat and act as normal as possible.
Chapter Eighteen
“What do we have, Johnny?” I asked.
“This is going to get busy really quick,” Johnny said as he approached my desk.
He tossed a folder and folded his arms.
Ben stood at the left side of the desk.
“Ben, good to see you,” Johnny said.
“Johnny,” Ben said.
“Cool the testosterone a little,” I said. “We have two murders to solve.”
“Probably just one killer,” Johnny said.
“Yeah, but who?” Ben asked.
“Here’s the story,” Johnny said as I opened the folder. “First picture was Claire Abrahams. She was the second body you found. The one who had the unfortunate pleasure of having her foot severed and placed into a pumpkin. The other victim was Candice Stefenski. She was the first body you found. The one with both feet still attached.”
I nodded at their pictures.
It was them.
Happier. Alive.
I shivered.
“Here’s where it gets interesting,” Johnny said. “The first picture of a man you see is David. That’s Candice’s husband. The next picture you see is Drew. He’s the ex of Candice.”
“Divorced?” I asked.
“No. They were together for a while and it just didn’t work out,” Johnny said. “Smart man to not take that plunge. Right, Ben?”
“Keep to the case file,” Ben said.
“Now, the next image…”
“Another man,” Ben said.
“That’s Candice’s current love interest. His name is Greg. This is where things get a little interesting. All three guys have some kind of a record.”
“Great,” I said.
“David has a DUI on his record from five years ago,” Johnny said. “Other than that, nothing. Not even a parking ticket. Guy seems clean.”
“So we’re looking at Candice’s partners,” Ben said. “The ex and the current boyfriend. That makes sense, right? Someone must have gotten a little ticked off.”
“But why murder Claire? Why cut her foot off?” I asked.
“Wrong place, wrong time?” Johnny asked.
“Maybe,” Ben said. “What do you have on Drew and Greg?”
Johnny sighed. “Well… we’ve got two restraining orders. An assault charge. A few misdemeanors. Three DUIs combined.”
“Wow,” I said. “So Claire has a husband. David. Her best friend is Candice. She’s not so settled. She was with Drew for a long time and things didn’t work out. She meets Greg. Hits it off. And…”
“Maybe she cheated on Drew with Greg,” Ben said.
“Maybe she just traded up a little,” Johnny said with a wink.
“Okay,” I said. “We have them all here?”
“That we do,” Johnny said. “We’re doing this right here in your town, Allie.”
“Good,” I said. I closed the folder. “I want to push at these guys hard and get real answers. I want this solved now.”
“Then let’s get this done,” Johnny said.
He turned, ran to the door and opened it for me.
I walked through and he followed, leaving Ben behind to fend for himself.
The two of them were like kids sometimes when it came to their macho nonsense stuff.
When we walked downstairs, the first thing I saw was Muldavey between two men.
“You killed her!” one yelled. I recognized him as Drew.
“I did? You’re the one that put a guy through a window!”
The second man was Greg.
“I take it the ex-boyfriend and current boyfriend don’t like each other,” Johnny said.
“This can end up nasty,” I said.
“You two need to back off each other!” Muldavey ordered.
“He started it,” Drew said. “Calling me out. I love her, man! I still love her!”
“And I don’t?” Greg yelled back. “You wanted her dead. You told her!”
“Okay, that’s enough,” I announced. They both looked at me. “If you two even think about hitting each other, you’ll be staying here for a lot longer than you think. The name of the game is giving me answers.”
“He’s got an assault charge on his record,” Greg said, pointing to Drew. “He put a guy through a window. Not to mention the drugs…”
“That has nothing to do with what happened to Candice!” Drew yelled. “I’ll break your neck!”
“See?” Greg asked. “Threatening me…”
“I’ll break both of your necks!” another voice added.
Here came David. Claire’s husband.
Rage in his eyes.
“The two of you are scum!” David bellowed. “Scum! And you got my wife killed!”
“David,” I said, “look at me right now.”
David froze and lifted an eyebrow at me.
“I need everyone to calm down,” I said. “I’m so sorry for your loss here. But we need to figure this out.”
“Talk to him,” Greg said, nodding to Drew. “Even David knows I’m right about that.”
“You’re no hero yourself, Greg,” David said.
“You watch your mouth over there,” Greg said. “I know you hated that I was with Candice.”
“This is getting tense,” Johnny said. “I should have made popcorn for the event.”
“Can we just do the right thing here and split them up?” Ben asked.
I pointed to Drew. “Did you put someone through a window?”
“A long time ago,” Drew said. “It was a stupid bar fight. I regret it.”
“He’s violent,” Greg said.
I pointed at Greg. “Did you have the restraining orders against you?”
“That was from a crazy ex,” Greg said, his face looking deflated.
“Scum!” David yelled. “You’re both scum!”
I saw him start to make a move.
I jumped in front of him, putting my left hand out.
“Stop,” I whispered. “Just stop, David.”
I held my right hand out and Ben took the folder from me.
My eyes never
left David. “Let these two bury themselves. You and I can go talk alone.”
David’s eyes filled with tears and he nodded. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. I need to get away from these two.”
“I know you do,” I said. “We’ll go sit in an office. I’ll get you something to drink. Coffee. Soda.”
“Got any booze?”
“I actually do,” I said. “But we can’t do that right now, David.”
“Yeah, right. Makes sense.”
“Come on.” I led him away from Drew and Greg.
His poor broken heart was my only chance to get real answers.
Chapter Nineteen
I walked into my office and put a water and coffee down in front of David.
“No cream or sugar?” I asked.
“No, thanks,” he said. “I don’t even like coffee. Just the smell.”
“That’s fine.”
“Claire drank coffee,” he said. “I would make it for her. I grew to love the smell but never the taste. But I loved watching her drink her morning coffee. She’d tease me too. She’d take a sip and have it on her lips and kiss me…”
I sat down across from David. “I’m so sorry, David. I mean that. I don’t take this stuff lightly. I don’t take my job lightly. I’m devastated right now and I can’t even imagine what you feel. I need you to be the levelheaded one here.”
David nodded. “Yeah, I understand.”
“It seems like Claire and Candice were kind of opposites.”
“Big time,” David said. “They were friends in high school. The way Candice lived now was the same way then from what I heard. She was the… you know… she liked guys.”
“And Claire didn’t?”
“Well, of course Claire liked guys,” David said. “Just not like the way Candice did. You know what I’m getting at?”
“Sure. I get it.”
“I met Claire when we were twenty-one. I actually met Claire outside a bar where Candice had gotten thrown out of for fighting. And she threw up in my car.”
“Claire did?”
“Candice did. I lived near the bar and offered to help because I could tell Claire was upset. Apparently that was Claire’s night out and Candice messed it up. They were both drunk. Candice puking. I took them to my place, which was crazy to do. Claire even told me that the next morning. How dumb of her to let a stranger take them home, right? But I was a decent guy. That next morning I watched Claire drink coffee for the first time. I fell in love with her right then and there. The night before though, Claire fell asleep and I helped Candice. When she finished throwing up for the last time, she wanted to sleep with me. As a thank you for helping.”
