Her husband hurried over to her. “Sheila, go back in the room and lie down.”
“Let her speak!” Sam yelled.
She shoved her husband’s hand away from hers and proceeded over to us. “You were right—that boy and his mother shared a cell with us,” she spoke slowly. “Even though we couldn’t communicate with each other, we were aware of what was going on around us and it was terrifying.”
“Sheila…” Mr. Cooper called.
“Stephen, please leave me alone. I’m tired of being hush hush about this. It’s been so long and not facing the trauma of what we went through is slowly killing me. Can’t you see that?” Right then, she turned and gave him her full attention. “While ignoring the past has been working for you, keeping you looking young and healthy, do you see what it’s done to me? Can’t you see how terrible I look? I couldn’t go anywhere without being afraid I’d be abducted or controlled again the way that we were. So, I stayed at home for twenty-four years. I don’t know what the inside of the grocery store looks like where we went shopping all the time; I lost the job I loved which was teaching primary school kids; I lost my own identity—the person I was before that horrid spacecraft hovered above this town. No more, Stephen! No more.”
She then turned to us again.
“Your friend and his mother were escorted out of that cell ahead of our release. A canine guard came to get them and said they were going to who they called leader and they never returned to the cell. I saw you there…” she pointed at me. “It was sometime after you’d left that the guard came and got them, and following them was a human guard.”
I stepped closer to her. “Do you know what they did to them, Mrs. Cooper?”
“I don’t, but I’m sure police constable Luke Barry would know. At least, that was his position at the time. He was the human guard I saw walking with them.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I reached out and held her hands. “Thanks so much, Mrs. Cooper. Bless you for finding it in your heart to tell us the truth.”
She only nodded.
As we were leaving, Mr. Cooper hurried over to get his wife while their son leaned against the wall in front of the hallway, smoking a cigarette.
“Can you believe that?” Rob exclaimed, outside. “This woman was an answer to our prayers!”
“Yes indeed.” Sam smiled.
I was jumping up and down in my head, thrilled at the progress we were finally making, but I knew it was too early to celebrate.
“We have a name, guys, and that’s a great start, but we don’t know what’s coming, so contain your excitement because we’re just getting started.
“I agree, Hewey,” Sam replied. “But I’m overjoyed right now and I can’t help it! After nearly thirty years, we finally have the name of someone who might know what happened to our friend.” Her eyes welled with tears and I couldn’t help but to stop and hold her.
“I know. I know, Sam.”
Rob was walking a few feet ahead, giving us our space.
“Okay…” Sam dried her eyes with the back of her fingers. “I don’t cry easily, but…”
“It’s good to let it out,” I said, quietly. “We all want nothing more than getting the answers that have evaded us for so long, and by some shred of hope, to see Jase and his mom again.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s find this constable now, shall we?” I smiled.
“Yep.” She smiled back.
9
_________________
After phoning police headquarters in hopes of locating Constable, now Chief Superintendent Luke Barry, I was told he was on vacation and due back to work the following Monday. It was Thursday, which meant the guys and I had to find something productive to do until we got our shot at speaking with the officer.
Being productive meant hanging out at Rob’s hotel and having a dip in the pool, like tourists, as Rob proudly put it; fishing on Lake Olivia in one of my uncle’s dinghies like we used to do so many years ago; frequenting the local restaurants we couldn’t afford to eat at when we were kids, and definitely sitting down for a couple of scoops of our favorite ice cream at Fredricka’s Diner. However, the ice cream stop didn’t happen until Saturday.
Even though I made sure to invite my brother, Carl, to hang out with us, he always declined and said Tamara was much better company. I was beginning to think he was getting quite serious about that girl. Did I hear wedding bells a little ways off in the future?
The Forresters had made some very attractive renovations to Fredricka’s Diner since the building was now very old. The bright red fish scale shingles and wide fluorescent green overhang which had a plastic, animated look to it were still there. The walls had a radiant orange hue and they’d extended the building another forty feet to include more tables and chairs. Grandma Jane, who’d worked there well into old age had passed on and now the grandchildren, including former prom queen, Dale Forrester, who went to school with me were keeping Grandma Jane’s dream alive.
Dale, whose beauty had not faded over time, had a short chat with the guys and me after we’d walked in. She was certainly more sociable than she was when we were kids.
As we sat there, revisiting our teenage years, Sam went on and on with Rob about how much he used to annoy her when we were hiding out in the distillery trying to find a way to rescue our folks. And, of course, he hadn’t the slightest clue what she was talking about.
“I could’ve strangled you!” she barked. “We’re in the crux of survival and you could never get your mind off that stomach of yours! You were a mess, Rob!”
“He’s still a mess.” I chuckled.
At our age, it was kind of hilarious watching them go at it, but back then, I had to step up as peacemaker. Otherwise, Sam might’ve torn off his head.
She looked at me. “Do you remember when he came into this same place for something to drink and walked out with a bunch of pastries instead?”
“I did get the ginger ale too!” Rob reminded her. “A few extra items wouldn’t have hurt.”
“They might’ve when we were in a hurry to get back to the hiding spot!” Sam shook her head as she clearly realized trying to convince Rob that focusing on his sweet tooth instead of survival was nonsensical.
Then he said something else that got her fired up and they were at it again.
That’s when I noticed who’d just walked into the diner and was heading over to a table several feet away.
“Guys…guys…” I whispered under my breath. But, of course, they didn’t hear me.
“Guys!”
Sam looked at me. “What?”
“Over there,” I said, quietly keeping my focus straight ahead at the latest patron. Sam and Rob were now following my stare.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Sam muttered. “If it ain’t Mr. Clyde Rivera, former Bible-totin’ adulterer and convict.”
“He’s out already?” Rob was stupefied.
“It’s been twenty-five years or thereabout, bud. Guess he’s done his time,” I said.
“Well, I think they should’ve at least thrown away the key since they didn’t give the guy the death penalty,” Sam asserted. “He killed a whole woman! Both he and Mrs. Christie were wrong for cheating on their spouses, but the woman didn’t deserve to die—and certainly not by his hands.”
“Where’s the justice, huh?” I said. “Mrs. Christie’s dead and this guy gets to go on with his life.”
“Not right, man. To think he killed her just to keep her mouth shut…” Rob sighed. “Anyway, it is what it is.”
Clyde Rivera had a rough appearance like that of a construction worker who’d spent many days in the hot sun. He used to have a softer look when he was in management at the insurance company he’d worked at before he managed to get himself into serious trouble. Mom had said his wife, Suzanne, had divorced him after he was convicted, sold their house and moved to a new town with a new man. So, when Clyde got out, there’s a good chance he was on his natural own.
&n
bsp; “You guys ready?” Rob asked. “I wanna get outta here.”
Clyde’s presence had dampened Rob’s and Sam’s mood, but I didn’t see why they let it get to them to that extreme. Sure, what the guy did was terrible, but he was still a part of the community and people just had to accept that fact.
“I’m ready,” Sam said.
Rob stood up, gathered our empty plastic bowls and took them to the trash bin.
Sam and I proceeded to the door.
“Hewey Spader…is that you?” I heard a voice behind me.
I turned and just as I thought—it was Clyde. “Hey…Mr. Rivera,” I said.
He actually got up and came over, smiling and all.
“I can’t believe it! Last time I saw you, you were a li’l brat living down the street from me!”
“Yeah, I was. Wasn’t I?” I grinned.
Rob walked over and was about to head out without us.
“You remember my friends, Sam and Rob?” I asked Clyde.
I saw vertical wrinkles on his now sixty-something-year-old forehead suddenly become more pronounced. “This is Sam? Really? Oh…wow. You’ve changed a lot! You look so…ladylike.”
Sam rolled her eyes. She was definitely not interested in engaging in any type of conversation with the guy.
“Oh, and yes—Rob. I remember Rob. You don’t look like you’ve aged a day since I last saw you.”
Rob nodded, opened the door and walked out. Sam followed him.
“Anyway, it was good seeing you, Mr. Rivera,” I said.
“It was great seeing y’all.”
He didn’t seem moved that much by Rob and Sam’s reaction to him. Maybe he was used to it.
“By the way, I got out of jail two years and nine months ago,” he spoke softly. “Been doing maintenance work for the police department ever since. The new chief was kind enough to give me the contract even though they don’t pay that well. But I’m able to keep up with my apartment rent, utilities and have something left over for food to carry me through, you know?”
“That’s good.”
I got the impression he wanted to talk, but I had mixed feelings about it.
“Well…I won’t hold you up any longer. I’m sure your friends are anxiously waiting for you.” He started to walk off.
Then I remembered something. “Mr. Rivera! Can I ask you a question?”
He looked back. “Sure. Anything.”
For the sake of privacy, I closed the gap between us a little more. “That time when the spacecraft was here… were you under the spell like everyone else was?”
I’d asked because I always wondered how he managed to even think of killing anyone in a zombielike state. Everyone was literally stripped of their will back then.
He glanced around, then said, “We should talk outside.”
“Sure.”
Rob was behind the wheel of the car and Sam was sitting next to him, staring at us as we made our way over to the side of the building.
Clyde sighed deeply. “It’s funny you asked me that question, Hewey, because no one else ever did even during my trial. The truth is…Johnette and I had a terrible argument the same day the spacecraft showed up; I happened to be at her place at the time. I wanted to break things off with her because I knew it was wrong what we were doing and I still loved my wife. On top of that, God was watching and I was feeling so guilty. She threatened to tell my wife and said she’d ruin my life. Out of anger, I told her if she did that, I’d kill her and I called her every filthy name in the book. Nothing I said seemed to faze her because she was angry too. Then, in the heat of the argument, we heard something outside just above us and Johnette hurried out to see what it was. I couldn’t do that because I didn’t wanna be seen leaving her house, so I stayed inside and peaked through the window. Johnette went into the street and was looking up at the sky. There was a strange buzzing sound that was so intense it started to hurt my ears; I had to grab a couple of towels and press them against my ears to drown out the sound. When I got back to the window to see what was going on, I saw everyone—all the neighbors—standing in the street and their eyes were so strange-looking like they were in some sort of daze. Then I saw the dogs and heard their voices, speaking just like we did and I got scared. There was no way I was going out there. I realized when I eased one of the towels away from my ear, that I no longer heard the buzzing sound. Not long after that, Johnette came back inside and she was totally different. She looked and acted like a zombie. Didn’t say anything to me; just went about the house doing chores as if she didn’t know me. I knew something was seriously wrong and that it had to do with whatever was out there and I was sure everyone else was affected just like her. I’m ashamed to say that even though I was scared and didn’t know what was going to happen the minute I walked out the door, I saw it as my opportunity to silence Johnette once and for all.”
He paused for a moment and I could see the guilt and perhaps, regret, in his eyes.
“So, I unlocked her back door, planning to return that night and use it as my entrance. I was determined I needed to get her out of my life because if she woke up from this daze, we were bound to pick up where we left off with the argument and threats.”
“It was you I saw that night from the top floor of the distillery…” I told him.
“You saw me?” He seemed surprised.
“Uh-huh. ‘Course, I didn’t know it was you at the time because it was so dark out.”
He went on to tell how something fell to the floor as he was hurrying out of the house after he’d stabbed Mrs. Christie. That must’ve been the crashing sound I’d heard which prompted Sam and me to go over to the house the next morning and check on her.
“But to answer your initial question…I was never under that spell everyone else was obviously under. I watched my wife, Suzanne, turn into someone I didn’t recognize and there was nothing I could do about it. When the buses came to get everyone, I escaped through the back and hid in the bushes, only returning home hours later.”
“So, you stayed there the entire time?” I asked.
“Yep. I almost lost my mind. I knew the day would come when all the food ran out and I’d made up my mind that I was gonna die right there all alone and probably deserved it after what I’d done to Johnette. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Suzanne was back home and was her old self again. By then, I was at my wits end, down to my last morsel of food and riddled with guilt. After holding her for what seemed like forever, I confessed everything to her and had to see the pain in her eyes. She encouraged me to turn myself in and that’s what I did. The rest is history.”
Clyde’s explanation of those events didn’t change my view of him or what he did, but I appreciated his honesty. After we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, I couldn’t help but think the guy had really messed up a good thing he had going and was now paying the price. According to him, Mrs. Christie had threatened to ruin his life, but the fact of the matter was he did a great job at that on his own.
“What the hell took you so long?” Sam barked at me the second I sat in the car.
Rob, who usually kept his cool, told me how much of a dimwit I was for wasting precious time conversing with a guy like Clyde Rivera.
“I’m feeling the hate, guys,” I said. “Where’d the love go?”
After taking a sip from my water bottle, I went on to share with them the conversation I had with Clyde and how he was unaffected by the spell from the UFO. At least, they found that bit of information interesting.
“And that’s why he was able to kill Mrs. Christie!” Sam announced.
“Precisely—because he couldn’t have done it under the so-called spell,” I returned.
“Idiot, either way!” Rob said.
10
_________________
Carl took a stroll with me through our neighborhood that Sunday. There wasn’t much else to do.
I went and paid a visit to a few of our elderly neighbors who weren’t doing so well phys
ically and a couple of others who were completely bedridden. Our neighborhood was an old one with lots of houses that were standing for at least a half of a century. Mrs. Miller’s, two houses down from ours, was actually close to a hundred years old and so was she. She lived with her caretaker, Doris, who’d been hired by Mrs. Miller’s only son David, to be there with her. David happened to pass away ten years earlier and Doris never left. He’d made financial provisions for his mother to continue to be cared for in the event he did not survive her. Smart guy.
Then on the corner were Velda Howard who had a bad case of arthritis and her husband, Ben. Those two managed all right on their own, having their groceries delivered and one of the kids on the block to come and do yard work every so often. I remember when the Howards were middle-aged and fairly strong, going on their jobs and minding their own business, for the most part. They were pretty close to mom and dad—even invited us over for birthday parties when their kids were young. I noticed many of the adult children around the neighborhood had moved out. Carl, and a few others, had never left the nest.
I whipped up a nice dinner for Carl and me and sent a plate over for Uncle Charlie. I wasn’t much of a cook, but at times, the dish was edible. Carl said the yellow rice with veggies and baked salmon was delicious. I’d have to agree, since most of the seasonings I used made my job a whole lot easier. I hadn’t heard any complaints from Uncle Charlie, so that was a good sign.
Later that night as we hung out in the living room, I said to Carl, “How would you like to open a mechanic shop in town?”
He looked at me curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I know you do your work here in the yard which is fine, but how would you feel about having your own shop in an area where there’s lots of traffic which can mean a lot more business?”
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (Hewey Spader Mystery Series Book 3) Page 5
