by Roger Hayden
“Or a hamster!” Todd was quick to say.
Victoria shook her head. “Keep your voice down. We’ll talk about it later.”
Todd nodded and then looked around the kitchen to see empty counters and no trace of dinner in the works.
“Sorry I didn’t call sooner,” he said, scanning the kitchen. “It’s been a long day.”
“Same here,” she said, stretching her arms across the table. She waited to see if he knew she got the flowers, but his face was hard to read.
“Maybe we could order out tonight. Pizza?” she began.
Todd glanced at his watch. “Sure.” He turned to walk to their bedroom when she stopped him.
“You know, I received a little surprise today at the office.”
“What happened?” he asked, waiting, with no sign of recognition on his face.
“A special delivery,” she said. “Don’t act like you don’t know.”
Her smile began to drop at the sight of Todd’s expression.
“Delivered to my office today…” she continued.
Silence came between them as Todd’s eyes shifted. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know they were from you, so just stop it.”
His face was awash in confusion, grasping for clues, it seemed, and she soon realized he hadn’t the faintest notion what she was hinting at.
“You really don’t know what I’m talking about?” she asked, frustration creeping into in her tone.
Todd held his arms out helplessly. “I don’t.”
“The flowers!” she said in a loud voice, rising from her chair. She paused at the sound of Brooke’s door opening for a moment, then closing. “You didn’t order flowers for me?” she asked in a tense whisper.
“Flowers?” he said. “No.”
“Someone sent them to my office today. A lovely floral arrangement in a large vase. You’re telling me that you had nothing to do with that?”
She waited as Todd stared into nothing, trying to make sense of her question. “I’m sorry, Vicky. I didn’t send them, but now I wish that I had.”
“There was a small card inside that said, To Victoria Owens With Love. Nothing else.”
“With love?” Todd said, trying not to sound appalled. “Honey, I don’t know what to tell you. That’s super weird.” He paused and turned toward the fridge, opening its door and searching the contents. “Beats me. Looks like you have a secret admirer.” He gave a forced little laugh.
“This isn’t funny,” Vitoria said, approaching him with the chain letter in her hand. “First this letter, now mysterious flowers delivered to my office. This is not normal, Todd.”
Todd took a Ziploc bag of fried chicken from the fridge and went to the microwave with an audible groan. “Someone’s having a little fun at your expense. That’s all. Just ignore it.”
Victoria got in his face. “What if it’s another man? Doesn’t that bother you that he’d send me flowers?”
Todd opened the microwave door, and placed the chicken inside on a plate. “Of course it would, but I’m sure it was a professional gesture. Someone at work appreciates you.”
“No, signing it ‘with love’ and no name? That’s not it,” she said, her frustration growing.
Todd set the timer on the microwave, turning his back to her. “Haven’t you ever done something nice for someone and not wanted them to know?”
Victoria turned away from him, flustered, her patience waning. “I knew that you’d be no help with this.”
Todd swung the microwave door open after the beeper sounded. “What else do you want from me, Vicky?”
Victoria stormed out of the kitchen without saying another word, leaving Todd alone as she went into her bedroom and slammed the door. She sat at the end of the bed, feeling tense and shaken. She hadn’t planned on an argument. She had assumed that Todd would come clean and that they’d share a special moment as the truth came out. Instead, all she got were more questions without answers.
She placed the envelope with the chain letter inside her dresser and sat at the edge of her bed, trying to get her mind in order. A knock came at the door as Victoria whipped her head around, wiping her watering eyes. She was crying and couldn’t believe it. Telling herself that she was entirely overreacting, part of her sounded just like Todd.
“Mom?” Brooke’s voice said from the door.
“Yes…” she tried to say in a cheery voice.
“Are you okay?”
She rose from the bed and approached the door, checking her face in the mirror as she passed. “Yes, honey,” she said, opening the door.
Brooke stood outside the room with a concerned look. “I thought I heard you and dad fighting.”
Victoria stuck her head outside the door, looking for Todd. She then rubbed Brooke’s head and smiled. “We’re fine. Don’t worry. Is everything okay with you?”
Brooke glanced toward the end of the hall and then back at her mother. “I don’t know. Dad sure left in a hurry.”
Victoria’s eyes widened. “He did?” She immediately stepped outside the room and walked toward the foyer as Brooke trailed behind her. “Where did he go?” She went to the front door and pulled it open. Her Toyota Corolla sat in the driveway next to an empty space where his car had been parked.
“He said he was going to pick up something for us for dinner,” Brooke said. She then looked down, saddened. “Barely said two words to me. All he did was complain that there was no food in the house.”
Victoria turned to face Brooke and brought both hands against her cheeks, lifting her head up. “Oh, honey. Don’t worry. Your father’s just tired.”
Brooke tried to smile. “I know, but he hasn’t said much to me for a while now.” Victoria brushed Brooke’s hair with care. “Nonsense. He loves you very much.” She then closed the front door just as a car drove by the house. Brooke followed her into the living room as they sat on the couch, Veronica reaching for the remote.
“You’re not going to watch the news again, are you?” Brooke asked.
“We can watch whatever you want,” she replied, shrugging.
Brooke’s eyes lit up. “Can we watch Dancing with the Stars?”
Victoria handed her the remote as Brooke lay on the couch next to her, head against her shoulder. “Here you go.”
Brooke snatched the remote and flipped through the cable channels until she found the program. Victoria tried to put her mind on autopilot and enjoy the show, but she couldn’t dash her earlier concerns.
Perhaps she could reach out to Elizabeth’s family and tell them about their high school friendship. She could even inquire about the letter while she was at it. There was no reason to keep second guessing herself. Anyone with any sense would find something peculiar about the flowers, the murders, and the letter, all happening at once.
She stroked Brooke’s hair as a celebrity dance duo spun around on screen while realizing that she wasn’t paying attention to a bit of it. Her mind was elsewhere. She thought of going to the police station again and laying out her evidence.
What evidence? she thought. All you have is some weird stuff happening. Are you really prepared to waste their time?
Todd came home later with a pizza. Victoria was still bothered by his abrupt exit, but remained amicable for Brooke’s sake. They all sat at the kitchen table, eating pepperoni slices at close to ten in the evening. Todd asked Brooke about school as Victoria kept most of her thoughts to herself. There was little purpose, she believed, in pursuing the matter further.
“Did Mom tell you about the woman they found in the lake?” Brooke abruptly asked Todd as Victoria took her last bite of pizza.
Todd looked at Victoria. She shrugged, and then answered for him. “I think your father has been too busy to pay attention to the news today.”
“I heard about it earlier on the radio,” he said. “Just tragic.”
Victoria glanced at him, irritated. Todd took a sip of soda from his glass as Brooke cont
inued. “It happened right around here. Do you think that the killer is close by?”
Todd shook his head and patted her hand. “Don’t worry. Whoever did it is probably long gone.”
“It’s almost time for you to get into bed,” Victoria said to Brooke as she looked up at the clock. “We could all use a good night’s sleep.”
“Are you taking me to school tomorrow?” Brooke asked.
“Sure,” Victoria answered.
Todd got up from the table and tossed his paper plate into the can under the sink. The open pizza box had two slices left, but Victoria was full.
“I’ll wrap these up for your lunch tomorrow,” she told Brooke. “How about that?”
“Okay,” Brooke said, smiling.
Todd suddenly came around and gave Victoria a quick kiss on the forehead, followed by a hug to Brooke and kiss on her cheek. “I’ve got some stuff to go over tonight, so I’ll be in the study,” he said, walking off.
Victoria turned around as he stopped at the refrigerator and grabbed a canned beer from inside. Apparently, pizza wasn’t the only thing he had picked up. He took his briefcase from the foyer floor and disappeared before she could say anything. She then looked at Brooke, folded a napkin, and wiped some pizza sauce from her cheek.
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed, okay?”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “I know, Mom.”
“Well, that’s good,” she said, standing up and taking the pizza box with her to the counter.
With Brooke’s birthday two weeks away, they had to make a decision on the dog. Perhaps it was time for a new addition to their family, whether Todd liked it or not.
Before going to bed, Victoria stood in the doorway to their study where Todd sat at the computer desk, dressed down in his T-shirt and boxers and surrounded by paperwork.
“Ready to call it a night?” she asked.
Todd shook his head without looking at her. “I wish I could. It’ll be at least another hour or so for me.”
“What are you working on, exactly?” she asked, approaching his desk.
“Work stuff,” he said, barely engaged.
She turned to leave the room, only to be suddenly called back.
“Look, I’m sorry for the flower thing,” he said, making eye contact. “I wish that I could be more help to you. I just don’t know what to say.”
Victoria thought to herself. “It’s fine. Really. It’s not your fault. Maybe I’m making too much about it.”
“I just want you to know that I care. Your problems are my problems, remember that,” he said. After a brief smile between them, Todd’s eyes shifted to the monitor as he began typing.
Victoria left the room feeling a little better. She flicked her bedroom light switch on and illuminated the room. There were clothes on the floor and bed. Their dressers and shelves and nightstands needed a good dusting, and their beige carpet was way past due for a vacuuming, but all she wanted to do was sleep.
She brushed her teeth and changed into her nightgown, eager to get under the covers. As she lay in bed, she could hear the low, distant rumblings of Todd talking on the phone in the next room. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the slightest hum of noise, mind drifting to her teenage years, including her friendship with Liz and the crew.
They had all been so close, and she couldn’t remember exactly when they had begun to drift apart. College, marriage, and families were the definitive factors. She’d have to reach out to the old gang and see how they were doing. Liz’s funeral could be a reunion of sorts. She’d check into it. But first, she needed some sleep.
* * *
Victoria sat at her desk the next morning, adding some last-minute notes to a PowerPoint slide for an upcoming conference call. She had barely looked at the flowers sitting atop her filing cabinet, but their scent lingered. Her office door was open, and every so often she would look out over her desk as the other employees walked by.
Her attention went back to her monitor as she continued typing. She had been staring at the same PowerPoint presentation for so long that her vision had gone blurry. Suddenly, someone knocked at the door, startling her.
She looked up to see Eric Stanfield, another project analyst, standing at her door, smiling at her behind glasses that seemed to magnify his eyes. “Hey there, Vicky!” He was wearing a vest, dress shirt, and tan Dockers. He was always friendly, if not a little bit of a pest sometimes.
“Hi Eric,” she said, distracted but polite.
“Just checking in. How’s your project going?”
Victoria brushed her hair back and resumed typing. “Busy.”
Eric walked into her office, hands in his pockets. “I’m working on a budget myself for drone optics.”
Victoria nodded with her eyes on the screen. “Military?”
“Commercial,” he said with a laugh. His attention then went to the flowers sitting nearby. “Nice flowers. Who sent them?”
Victoria glanced at the flowers and shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Really?” Eric asked, surprised. “That’s strange.”
“You want them?” she asked in an indifferent tone.
Eric looked at her, surprised at the offer. “That’s all right, thanks. I’ll let you get back to your work.”
He then wished her a good day and left as quickly as he had arrived. Victoria continued typing as the sound of his footsteps began to fade. She then got up, walked directly to the flowers, lifted them up with both hands, and carried them out of the office, receiving curious glances from coworkers along the way.
She walked past a line of cubicles and into a hallway that led to the break room. She turned into the room and went directly for the large trash can in the corner, where she dropped the entire floral arrangement inside. She heard a thud and then turned, leaving the room and feeling better already.
Victoria arrived home before sunset, pulling into the driveway with a sense of relief. Todd wasn’t home yet, naturally, and Brooke was staying at her friend Katie’s house for dinner. It seemed the first time in a long time that she had the house to herself. The day was behind her, and she was looking to relax. She parked the car inches from the garage door and shut off the ignition. Just then, she noticed the chain letter sticking out of a pocket on the side of her purse.
“Damn it,” she said, seizing the letter.
She had forgotten to stop by the police station on her way home. With the busy day, her mind had been elsewhere. She placed the letter back in her purse and then gripped the steering wheel, trying to decide what to do. She certainly didn’t feel like driving back through town to reach the police station. What would they do about the letter anyway?
She then thought of an idea. She could contact the Connecticut Homicide Department and ask to speak with the detective in charge with investigating Elizabeth’s murder. She’d tell them about the letter and let them take it from there. Case closed.
Victoria stepped out of her car and felt a cool breeze amidst the whirling leaves falling from their elm tree. She continued up the walkway, observing her quaint house with pride. There was no other house she wanted to live in. No other place she wanted to be. She was happy in Maine and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. She even liked the snow.
She walked up her creaking porch steps and then halted a few feet from the front door. Sitting right at her doorstep was a green gift box tied by red string. There was no shipping label on it and no indication of what was inside. She turned around in haste and looked out into the quiet neighborhood street. She then looked again at the mysterious package with her heart beating fast. She hadn’t ordered anything. Was it Todd’s? She approached the box with caution, unsure if she should even touch it.
Someone had put it there for a reason. She turned the door knob, just to be sure, and was relieved to see that it was locked. She knelt close to the package and saw that there was a note attached to the side. She pulled her cell phone from her purse, prepared to call Todd—or maybe e
ven the police. She then paused and took a deep breath, reconsidering. The note had piqued her curiosity. She had to read it. She had to know.
She looked around again and then pulled the small envelope from the box, feeling a chill down her spine. She opened the envelope and pulled out a single message, the size of a business card, vague and cryptic.
Hello, Victoria. This gift is very important. Make sure that you’re alone when you open it, and do not tell anyone. Enjoy!
The tiny cursive scrawl had been typed as well, much like the note in her flowers, though with a different font. She rose, back against the door, and looked out front, her eyes darting left and right.
“Whoever is doing this, you need to stop!” she called out, angered. But she heard and saw no one. “I’m going to call the police! You hear me?”
Her threats went unanswered. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and immediately called Todd. After several rings, the call switched to voicemail. She waited for the automated message to end and then spoke. “Todd, call me back as soon as you get this message. I just got home and there’s some weird package at our door. There’s a note on the side of it, addressed to me. I think…” she paused to catch her breath, noticing that she was growing so nervous that her hands were shaking.
“I think that it’s the same person who sent me the flowers. This is getting too strange. I think I should call the police.” She paused again, trying to think of what else to say. She didn’t know. All she knew was that she wanted him to answer his damn phone. “Just call me back. Please.”
She hung up the phone with a sigh and stared down at the sad, strange box below. Perhaps it was just another piece of some demented riddle. Part of her wanted to toss the box in the trash, while the other part had to know what was inside. She knelt and carefully picked up the box with both hands. It was light, and as she shook it, she could hear something shifting around inside. Eager to get into the house, she pulled her keys out and unlocked the door, stepping in with one last glance into the front yard. She closed the door, locking it behind her.
