Off Season

by B. Allison Miller

  “He’d been paying Shannon for years. I did some research and figured out who Shannon Tennyson was. I told Jonah that he shouldn’t pay an extortionist. If the child was his, he should have custody rights. I was the one who contacted the FBI about the extortion.”

  “Wait. You wanted to get Shannon arrested for extortion because you wanted shared custody of Skye?” I felt my jaw fall open.

  “She is Jonah’s daughter. We should have a right to see her.”

  “That’s what Tate’s unfinished business was. He wanted to warn off Crater. You were going to frame Tate for Crater’s death and get Shannon arrested for felony extortion. Skye wouldn’t have anywhere to go but to Crater, her biological father. Only you made a mistake. You somehow lured Crater back to the Chalet, then you killed him. Only you were worried that you evidence you left behind”

  “I didn’t lure Jonah. He was my husband. I called him to say I missed him, and that I would meet him at his suite.”

  Rebecca smirked at me, and I knew I was on the right track. “But why? Why did you kill Crater if you wanted him to share custody of Skye with Shannon? Wouldn’t it have been easier to just get rid of Shannon with the extortion plot?” I swallowed hard when I said that. I didn’t advocate getting rid of anyone.

  “Jonah didn’t want her. He didn’t want that precious little girl. He said that Shannon was too much trouble. Tate was trouble too. I did some research. I thought as Jonah’s widow, I could apply to care for her. I just needed Shannon and Tate out of the picture. The extortion charge would take care of Shannon and Tate could be charged with murder.”

  My mind was boggled. “The authorities are no longer looking at Tate as the suspect in Crater’s murder. They are sure the killer is a woman.”

  Rebecca shrugged. “There’s still Shannon.”

  Doh! Rebecca was right. Shannon could be a suspect in both Crater McMurphy’s murder and in the extortion plot. I held the key—the recording that I was making on my phone. I knew that recordings—especially hidden recordings by non-sleuths such as myself—would probably be inadmissible in a court of law, but they could be damning. I could still give Agent Riley and Jed a good reason to find Rebecca McMurphy guilty. I just had to let them hear the recording that I was making.

  “Of course, Mandy, we have a problem now, don’t we?”

  “Um?” Playing coy, I set my whiskey glass on the table.

  Rebecca laughed. “Don’t play stupid with me, Mandy. You hurt your knee, not your brain. You heard my confession. You might have even recorded it. Where’s your cellphone? Is it in your pocket?” Rebecca stood from the bed and darted across the room towards me. I jumped from my seat to avoid her onslaught, and I tried to flee for the door. Rebecca snaked one leg out and hooked me behind my right knee. I felt a sharp pull in my leg as I crumbled to the floor.

  “I picked the correct knee, didn’t I?” Rebecca sneered from above me.

  I didn’t imagine that Rebecca knew that during my summer breaks from snowboarding, I had earned my blackbelt in Taekwondo. I took several small cleansing breaths to stop the anxiousness that threatened to overcome me. Then as Rebecca lifted her right leg intending to send a catastrophic blow to my temple, I spun my body kicking and punching as I bounded from the floor. I grazed her with a roundhouse kick to her lower back, and then I threw a right hook to Rebecca’s abdomen for good measure. A couple of well-placed blows like those would knock the average person down, but they weren’t enough to dissuade Rebecca McMurphy from trying to pummel me.

  Rebecca recovered her balance. Her dark eyes grew fiery and she omitted a loud guffaw. Then she stepped closer. I really wanted to pull the door open and run, but my knee was sending out SOS signals to my brain. I knew there was no way I would be able to outrun Rebecca on my newly damaged knee. I needed to fend her off and try to make enough noise so that the neighbors in the next room would call the police.

  I reached for the desk lamp on the table and yanked it hard enough to dislodge the plug from the wall.

  “You know only one of us can leave this room tonight?” Rebecca sneered. Then she dove at me. I threw the lamp in her path hoping that it would catch her in the head or somewhere painful. It hit the wall behind her as she dove downwards. Rebecca McMurphy had all the moves. Frankly, she was terrifying.

  I hobbled to the bedside table and grabbed the bottle of whiskey. I held it out in front of me, threatening Rebecca with it. She merely grinned. I grasped the neck of the bottle, and I smacked the base against the table. The end of the bottle broke with a loud shattering sound and I felt the amber liquid splash me as I held the jagged bottle aloft.

  “Come at me, baby!” Rebecca screamed in a blood-curdling voice. I heard the blood pumping in my ears as Rebecca reached into the pocket of her cargo pants and removed a large pocket knife. I heard the click as the weapon opened and the shining serrated blade was exposed. Apparently, knives were Rebecca’s weapon of choice.

  I pointed the bottle at her and steadied my nerves. “I intend to be the one who leaves the room tonight, Rebecca.”

  “In a body bag!” Rebecca countered as she dived towards me with the knife.

  What happened next is a bit of a blur, and I apologize for that. When your adrenaline is pumping it can be hard to remember specific details. What I do remember is hurdling myself on top of the bed and bouncing off the other side, despite my injured knee. That’s right, lady, I am pretty great on a trampoline too. I rushed to the door and began unlocking the bolt. I could feel the heat of Rebecca’s body as she appeared behind me. I did a blind rear kick, making contact with her knife hand before I pulled the door open and ran. I heard the dull thud of the knife as it hit the carpeted floor.

  I didn’t get far before I felt Rebecca dive on top of me. My body collided with the asphalt of the parking lot, I let out an ‘oof’ as my breath was knocked completely out of my body. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move. I felt myself being dragged across the warm asphalt. I felt the dry sharpness of the parking lot tearing at the skin of my arms and my face as Rebecca dragged me towards her room by my legs. I felt completely helpless and breathless. My knee throbbed. Rebecca didn’t bother to close the door as she turned me on my back and raised the knife that she recovered over me.

  “Drop the weapon!” I heard the voice, but I didn’t believe my ears. I had to be dreaming.

  “Drop the weapon!” The harsh voice repeated. I looked up at Rebecca’s eyes, and I swear, her irises were swirling like a crazed cartoon character’s. I was motionless as Rebecca’s arm swept down towards me the knife still clutched in her left hand. That’s when I heard the loud report of a gun. Things got hazy after that. I fainted for the first time in my life.

  HE’D WINGED HER. JED was an excellent shot—a real marksman with a gun. I didn’t know this about him until Rebecca tried to kill me. Soon the parking lot of the motel was swarming with first responders and I watched as Rebecca McMurphy was loaded into an ambulance. I opted to get checked out in the parking lot before Jed persuaded me to let the paramedics take me to the hospital to be examined and treated.

  No one had called the police about a disturbance at the motel that night. I guess loud guests were pretty commonplace at the Highway’s End Motel. Jed tracked me down using only the text messages I sent him and his keen intuition. I guess that’s why he is a good policeman despite his hemophobia.

  At first, Rebecca denied killing her husband. I played my audio recording to both Jed and Agent Riley, and eventually, Rebecca admitted her guilt. I learned that Agent Riley had not been brought in to investigate Crater McMurphy’s death per se. She was investigating the interstate extortion claim filed by Rebecca McMurphy, and when Crater turned up dead, Agent Riley was brought in on the case. Of course, now, thanks to my recording, the agent had more damning evidence against Shannon. Getting Shannon in trouble had never been my intention. It turned out that Skye was right. She did see Shannon on the mountain the day we had ice cream. Shannon never left Colorado when she learned
that Crater McMurphy was in town. We can only speculate what Shannon’s intentions were. The photos she sent to Tate from California were just old photos from her photo library taken the last time she went there.

  Jed and I rescheduled our dinner because a matter of attempted murder and arrest made it necessary. It turned out that I had merely sprained my knee during my altercation with Rebecca McMurphy. I had to wear a brace for a few weeks, and I would be fine. The surgery that I had three years before held up to Rebecca’s blow. I had a few cuts and scrapes that I sustained during my skirmish with Rebecca, but my prognosis was excellent. Jed was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation thanks to him shooting Rebecca McMurphy in the shoulder in an attempt to save me.

  FIFTEEN

  “The truth is simple. If it was complicated, everyone would understand it.” – Walt Whitman

  I WALKED INTO DELILAH’S Tavern and I went straight to the bar. I ordered a double gin and tonic from Delilah herself. My nerves were on edge, and my face felt warm. My heart was pounding so hard that I felt like it might burst through my ribcage and land on the counter. Once I paid for my drink, I carried it toward the back of the tavern. I found Jed in his usual booth located in the dark corner that he preferred. I stood for a moment, holding my drink and I observed him for a moment. His head was turned down slightly, and his elbows were resting on the tabletop beside a well-worn baseball cap. He was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans—civilian clothes. Our meeting was strictly personal. Jed was drinking a beer and there was an empty shot glass in front of him too. I decided he must have been in the tavern for a while. Maybe Jed was as nervous as I was.

  MY ACCOUNT OF PROM night is pretty cut and dry.

  ON THE NIGHT OF OUR senior prom, Mike, my date, drove me to the school, and once we entered the gym, he had his hands all over me. I fought him off, and Mike left me to hang out with his friends. I found a lonely seat at a table and listened to a cover band play ballad after ballad while my classmates danced around me. I felt like a complete loser. I didn’t know most of my classmates, and I felt completely out of place. I hoped that college would be different for me.

  Jed entered the gym a while later. I remember that he was so slim and young-looking in his tux. Jed was smaller and thinner than most of the guys in our class. Unlike many of our male classmates, Jed hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet. He didn’t reach his full height of six-foot-three until after graduation. Jed set his hand on my shoulder and asked me to dance. I demurred at first, but Jed, being my best friend, knew how to make me laugh, and eventually, he got me on the dance floor. We had a nice time. We danced, we laughed, we may have had a little spiked punch. Around two in the morning, during the after-prom party, Jed suggested that we leave. There was a meteor shower that night, and Jed told me that his dad let him borrow his classic Ranchero for the prom. I used to love that car. It would be a great car to sit in and watch the meteors whiz by. Jed drove us to a scenic lookout and we sat in the bed of the Ranchero waiting for the meteor showers to begin.

  As we waited, huddled under an emergency blanket that Jed’s dad kept in the car, Jed turned to me. “Did you hear why Mike asked you to prom?”

  “No,” I answered. Honestly, I didn’t have a clue. I hardly knew the boy, but he was well-liked and popular at school.

  “I think he wanted to see if he could,” Jed lowered his face and cleared his throat uncomfortably, “I heard rumors that he was going to try to have sex with you tonight.”

  I felt my face flush. I wondered if what Jed told me was true. Had Mike Peterson targeted me? I was inexperienced. I never had a real boyfriend. Maybe the other students knew how naïve I was. I imagined that the rest of the students thought I was a big joke.

  “Oh,” my voice squeaked in embarrassment. I should have been angry at Jed for suggesting that Mike’s only interest in me was my V-card, but I knew Jed, and I didn’t think he would lie to me.

  “You wouldn’t have, would you?” Jed asked.

  “No.” The thought of Mike’s hands all over me angered me. There was no way that I would have sex with him. “I don’t even like Mike.”

  “Good. Mike is an asshole. He doesn’t deserve you, Mandy. I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

  I let Jed’s revelation sink in. I should have gone to prom with Jed. No matter, I ended up with him in the end. That’s what counted. I was safe and I was with my best friend.

  “Why didn’t you bring a date tonight, Jed?”

  “My date was already spoken for,” he smiled shyly. “I wanted to take you.”

  I nodded in understanding, Jed and I always relied on each other. We were always each other’s safe plus-one. “Do you really think that’s what Mike was up to?”

  Jed nodded.

  I felt my throat tighten. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry. I felt like a fool—like I was the butt of Mike’s joke. The whole school was probably laughing at me. I vowed that things would be different in college. I wouldn’t be the punchline to anyone’s joke.

  “What are you thinking?” Jed asked.

  “That I’m a loser. I’ve never even had a boyfriend, and everyone knows it. I am leaving for college next year, and everyone there will know I’m a loser too.”

  Jed shook his head at me, “You aren’t a loser, Mandy. Mike and the rest of them? They are all just creeps. They are the losers.”

  “I’m, you know, a virgin,” I swallowed my admission like a bitter pill.

  I watched Jed’s Adam’s apple move as he swallowed too, “Yeah, so am I.”

  “You are?” I wasn’t entirely surprised. I knew Jed kissed a girl named Katy in the eighth grade, but I’d never seen Jed with a girlfriend. I was certain if he had been dating someone, I would know about it. We were best friends.

  Jed nodded.

  “You’re going to think this is stupid, Jed, but I’ve been thinking, and,” I hesitated. I probably should have just kept my dumb thoughts to myself, but I knew Jed wouldn’t judge me. “I was thinking it would be a good idea to lose my virginity before college. I guess I ran out of time. Maybe I’ll meet someone this summer.”

  “Why would you want to do that?” Jed asked, incredulous.

  “Because, I don’t know, sometimes I feel like I’m the most naïve person in the room. In every room. Even the kids I snowboard with have had sex. I don’t want to be the only inexperienced girl in my dorm. I don’t want people making fun of me or targeting me the way Mike did.” I felt my face growing redder.

  “I’ve thought about it too, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to just pick some random person, Mandy. You should care about the person you’re with,” Jed admitted.

  “I guess,” I reluctantly agreed.

  “Can I tell you something without you getting angry?”

  “Sure.” I shrugged.

  “I’ve thought about asking you, but I decided it was probably better to wait.”

  “Asking me what?” I stammered although I was pretty sure that I knew what Jed meant.

  “To be my first.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t look at Jed because I was blushing. I hadn’t realized that he thought of me that way.

  “But then I thought it might make things too complicated.” Jed looked at me, he used his thumb to lift my chin so that he could look into my eyes. “Maybe it’s better to just wait.”

  I thought about Jed’s idea for a moment. He had a good point about being with someone you know and trust. “It’s actually not that bad of an idea.”

  “What?” Jed asked in a slightly shocked voice as if it never occurred to him that I would consider his idea.

  “I mean, we are best friends, and I trust you more than anyone not to hurt me or use me. And we’re both proud owners of our V-cards so we don’t need to worry about diseases.” The more I rationalized, the better the idea sounded.

  “Um, but what about the other thing?” Jed blushed.

  I cleared my throat. “I’ve been on the pill since I
was fifteen for my cramps.”

  “Oh,” Jed looked down a bit. I think I embarrassed him a little.

  “We could, you know, and then it would be over.”

  “I don’t know, Mandy, there’s a lot to consider,” Jed nervously fumbled with a button on his jacket and avoided making eye contact with me.

  That’s when I leaned in and kissed him. As impossible as it sounds, we’d never kissed each other before. And it was nice. Everything happened organically after that. It was awkward, yes, but it was natural and real. Honestly, it was all over pretty quickly. I was underwhelmed, but I was relieved that Jed, someone who truly cared about me, had been my first. And, it was comforting to know that he was as inexperienced as I was. Afterward, Jed didn’t make eye contact with me for several minutes as we lay side by side, quietly. He was such a shy kid. We caught the tail end of the meteor shower and watched it without speaking. I was pretty sure that Jed knew that our experience wasn’t earth-shattering for me. Neither of us was worldly enough to know that our first time was likely to be awkward. We dressed without speaking and then lay back in the bed of the truck under the emergency blanket. Looking back on our experience now, I wished we had talked about it, or maybe even tried again. Maybe things would have ended differently.

  “Are you okay?” Jed asked after several moments of silence.

  I nodded my response.

  “Was it okay?”

  “It hurt a little at first, but it was fine.”

  Jed’s face registered the word ‘hurt,’ and I don’t think he heard anything else. He looked disappointed. He rested his head on my stomach, and I draped an arm over his chest.

  “Mandy, I love you.” Jed took a deep breath. “Do you love me?” I felt his hand gently caressing my arm. I heard the words he said, but somehow, I didn’t really think much about them. I had no reason to. We grew up together—of course, he loved me—we were so close. Then it dawned on me, Jed wasn’t confessing filial feelings of love—this was something else.