A Deathly Rattle

by Diana Orgain

  “If the bakery workers give you a hard time, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do about getting a warrant,” Rita said.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, and we shook. I kind of liked having a cop buddy now. It sure was going to make things easier to work with the police instead of against them.

  I loaded Laurie back up into the car after a quick diaper change, and I called Sarah from the car where we decided on a place to meet. I pulled out of the neighborhood, and a few miles down the road I spotted the billboard. I laughed – hard. There was Bill and Morgan, locking lips with her shoulder sensually exposed. I had taken that picture. The tagline read, “My husband cheated: here’s his information – feel free to let him know what you think!” followed by his phone number, email, place of business, and a few other ways to contact him through social media.

  “Harsh,” I said, but I was somewhat proud of the timid woman.

  I pulled over on the side of the road. Sarah was standing there next to her car, admiring the giant billboard she had rented. I pulled my car as far from the road as possible and rolled down my window, smiling at her as she trotted up to me. “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Genius,” I said.

  “His parents saw it,” she said. “I’m glad. They’ll give him hell.”

  “Good,” I said. “Listen, Sarah, we need to talk about Bill and Morgan.”

  “You know… I’m really sorry about what happened to her,” Sarah said. “I mean, I was angry when you told me that this woman was sleeping with my husband, but… well, I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, you know? Not even Bill. I mean, I did put this billboard up, so it’s not like I’m a super forgiving person.”

  “I understand,” I said. “Is Bill usually a violent person?”

  “No! That’s the thing, he’s not. I heard about what he did to you, and I’m so sorry. I don’t understand. If he was so desperate to save our marriage, he should have just broken up with Morgan and come clean. Not this filthy sneaking around crap he’s pulled. That’s what I get for sending my husband to get cupcakes at Skank Bakery. I’m sure that’s how they met – I sent him to get cupcakes I ordered from there for my mom for her birthday last year… I wonder if they’ve been together since then? Uhg, I don’t even want to think about it.”

  I snorted slightly. “I’m sorry, Skank Bakery?” I questioned.

  “That’s the nickname a lot of people around here have for Cassandra’s Cookies. All the women who work there are sort of notorious for dating married men,” Sarah said.

  “Oh, really?” I questioned.

  “Yeah, it’s just local gossip, but that’s what I’ve heard,” Sarah said. “I never imagined that Bill would fall for that crap, though.”

  “I think I need to speak to some of the workers there,” I said, gripping the steering wheel as I thought about Jim. Sarah and I talked for a few more minutes, and honestly I felt pretty good about her. I didn’t believe she had anything to do with what happened to Morgan, and I called Rita after I left. We cracked up on the phone with each other about the billboard, and I told her about my conversation with Sarah and that it had gone well.

  “Yeah, I don’t think she did it either,” Rita said. “There’s no evidence suggesting that. And, sounds like Bill has a pretty tight alibi. He was with some buddies most of the day, and he visited his in-laws some that evening too. I confirmed with them, and even though they both said they would love to see Bill rot in prison for cheating on their daughter, they did confirm with me that he was over for a few hours helping out with a light fixture.”

  “Dang,” I said. “So, Bill’s not our guy, is he?”

  “You were right, though,” Rita said. “Now that we know he’s not, we can refocus. You headed to the bakery?”

  “I’m,” I said.

  “Let me know how it goes. I’m getting a warrant, but they’re being slow down here today. You’re not a cop, so maybe you can sweet talk your way into being allowed to look around,” Rita suggested.

  I agreed to give it a try, and soon Laurie and I were outside of the bakery. Of course, Cassandra would be back to work today. She was behind the counter, still looking a little sickly, but better. “Hey, Kate!” she said perkily – clearly not holding any grudge towards me for whatever happened between her and Jim.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “You here for one of your special brownies?” she asked me.

  “No thanks,” I said. “I think that craving has finally been satisfied. It took me eating so many that it made me physically sick to get over it, though. You’re quite a baker.”

  “Thanks!” Cassandra said, smiling. “What can I help you with?”

  “Would you mind if I spoke with some of your employees about Morgan?” I asked.

  “Of course,” she said. “I did hire you, remember? Feel free to talk and look around or whatever you need to do.”

  That was easy. “I will,” I said. I spoke with a few employees, and I out right asked about Morgan’s love life again. Once more, they confirmed she dated married men, and it sounded like quite a few of the girls there shared similar dating life. I wanted to punch them – all of them. But, I had to remain professional.

  I strolled Laurie in her little umbrella stroller into the back, finding Cassandra’s work office. “Well, she did say I could look around,” I said under my breath as I pushed my way past the Employees Only sign. Cassandra’s desk was fairly plane, a few decorations from some sorority she had been in apparently through college. A picture of what was probably her dog sat by her computer. I went to pick up the picture, and I unintentionally jiggled her mouse. Her Facebook page was pulled open. I glanced over my shoulder – no one was coming, so I sat down.

  I looked at the messenger app, and sure enough Jim’s name popped up. My palms were sweating as I found myself debating on whether or not to check. I did, and I got an eye full of… naked Cassandra. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I practically growled. She sent Jim naked pictures!

  My ears and cheeks grew warm. If I was a cartoon, steam would have started spewing out of my ears and nostrils. I gripped the mouse, and if I did so any tighter I’m sure I would have broken it. I’ll kill her, I thought for a second, but I cleared my head. No, I was going to do this right. I snapped pictures of her computer screen and then sent the pictures to myself through her Facebook – immediately deleting the conversation so she wouldn’t know I had done it.

  I stood, taking a moment to compose myself before leaving the office. “Laurie, we got to go,” I said to my daughter who was innocently chewing on a sock she had managed to pull off one of her feet. As I was leaving, Cassandra spotted me from where she stood behind the counter.

  “You leaving already?” she asked me curiously.

  Yeah, so I don’t punch you, I thought, but I just smiled and acted like nothing was wrong. “Yeah, it’s naptime for the kiddo,” I said, and she nodded like she understood.

  “Okay,” she said. “I understand. Listen, if there’s anything else I can do to help with the case, please let me know. Morgan was my friend, you know?”

  She seemed sad. I wanted to strangle her, but I had a job to do. I needed to separate whatever was going on with her and Jim from the case – I needed to get justice for Morgan whether she was a cheat like Cassandra or not. “I’ll let you know,” I said and hurried out, stopping by the store to grab some more printer ink before driving home. I fed her, bathed her, and laid her down for a nap before heading into mine and Jim’s home office.

  I started crying, but I kept working. I printed the pictures of Cassandra and placed them on the kitchen table. I was shaking. When Laurie woke up from her nap, I called Kenny and had her come and pick her up. I told him I had something I needed to talk to Jim about and that I didn’t want to be distracted. Then, I waited. I received a friendly, “On my way home, babe!” text from Jim, and as per usual I told him to drive safe.

  I had way too much time for a
nger and sadness to build up. I mean, naked pictures! How could there possibly be an excuse for that? This woman was sending him nudes! I kept looking at the pictures laid out on my kitchen table, and every once in a while, I’d feel myself getting choked up. It was just too much. I started thinking about Bill and Sarah – even about that stupid play my mother had been in. Cheaters! They disgusted me. I saw no excuse for it. None. Yet, here I was, sitting in my kitchen, waiting to confront my husband about it. Had Jim cheated on me? Even if he didn’t, had he willingly accepted these pictures from Cassandra? And, didn’t that count as cheating?

  Jim came through the door. “Laurie sleeping?” I heard him say as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. He glanced over to see what I was doing and saw the pictures, and I saw his face go pale.

  I practically hissed at him. “You and I need to talk.”

  Ch14

  Yeah, that escalated really quickly. Never called a pregnant woman crazy and paranoid – because as soon as those words slipped out of Jim’s lips, I lost it. I started screaming and throwing my hands around like I had truly lost my mind. “Well, Jim, what do you expect me to think?” I questioned him, my fists shaking at my side.

  “You’re supposed to trust me – that’s what!” he snapped back.

  “Trust you? How can I trust you when you won’t even tell me what’s going on!” I shout, my whole body joining my fists in shaking. “First of all, you’ve been secretly going to see your ex-girlfriend-”

  “To get you your brownies!”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t tell me, Jim! That’s the point! You didn’t tell me that the bakery was owned by your ex!” I shouted.

  “You’re right, I didn’t,” he said. “But, only because I didn’t think it was worth mentioning. We dated briefly in high school. We hardly spoke at all the first few times I came into the bakery. I didn’t even realize it was her at first.”

  “Second,” I said, holding up two fingers. “Secondly, you didn’t tell me you had the police called on you!”

  “I didn’t want you to freak out,” he said.

  “Well, I’m freaking out now, Jim!” I snarled. “And, I know you have her cellphone number in your phone!”

  “Oh my God, Kate, have you seriously been going through my phone?” he questioned.

  “You’ve been texting her! And, she keeps sending you all these flirty emojis, and then I find this crap-” I pointed towards all the erotic photos spread out across our kitchen table.

  “Where did you even find that?” he asked.

  “She left her Facebook logged in when I went to the bakery to interview some of the employees,” I said. “And, she had sent those to you!”

  Jim just sat down at the table; he started snatching up the phones and crumbling them up in his frustration. “You’re unbelievable,” he told me.

  “Me!” I shrieked. “I’m unbelievable? Are – are you kidding me! Look at all this, Jim! Are you seriously questioning why I’m upset right now?” I took a breath, and that pause made me break down. I started crying. I lost all the confidence I had gathered prior to the confrontation, and Jim looked up at me with these sad eyes. “Are you cheating on me, Jim?” I asked.

  “God, babe, no!” he said and jumped up. “Kate, I would never hurt you like that. Look… just… sit down. I’m going to make some coffee, and I’ll explain what’s going on, okay?”

  This should be good, I thought and plopped myself down at the table, arms crossed. We didn’t speak while the coffee was brewing. I was too upset to talk, and he was very timid – he kept shaking his head and muttering to himself. He set a cup of coffee in front of me – plenty of sugar just like I liked it, and he poured a tiny bit of creamer for me before sitting down and taking a swig of his coffee, cringing as he burnt his tongue. I shook my head; he always burnt himself with coffee when he was distracted. He took a breath. “Okay, so I haven’t been totally open with you about what’s going on. I’ll admit that, and I’m sorry, Kate. I never meant to get you upset or make your worry. I love you, Kate. And, I would never do anything intentionally to hurt you. I hope you know that.”

  I just kept sulking. I nodded slightly, but I was still waiting on an explanation.

  “So, I swung by the bakery to get you those brownie’s the first time. Cassandra wasn’t there. I had no idea she owned it. Then, you just really liked them, remember?” I nodded, and he continued. “So, I kept going back. I’d see her, but I honestly didn’t recognize her. It was high school, you know? And, we didn’t even date that long. Just junior year, I think. Anyways, one day we’re talking, and she starts flirting with me. I turned her down, and then she just laughed and told me who she was. I laughed too, and we talked about you and Laurie and the new baby. Just catching up. I thought everything was normal. She talked me into giving her my number; she was being friendly and told me that if you were ever craving anything at weird hours to just hit her up, and she’d be happy to swing by early or stay late for me since we were friends.”

  “So, that’s why her number is in your phone?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said. “And, at first, it was fine. We just texted about brownie’s, and I think I sent her a picture of Laurie once. That was it. But, then she just started texting me more. She friended me on Facebook, and I accepted – not thinking anything on it. She kept texting me about random stuff – innocent at first. She sent a picture of her dog. Then one day she sent me a picture of herself – it was fairly innocent – just her in a dress asking me what I thought. I ignored the text because I thought it was inappropriate, and the next time I went into her shop she asked me why I didn’t respond. I told her I didn’t think it was appropriate, and she acted like she understood. She even apologized. But, later that night I got a message from her on my phone, and she had sent me a picture of her cleavage and made some joke about whether or not it was inappropriate. I told her to stop.”

  “And, what, it just escalated?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Jim said. “I went into the shop the next day and told her to knock it off, and she grabbed me… um…” his face turned bright red. He cleared his throat. “She grabbed me inappropriately, and I pushed her back.” Jim sat back, looking quite embarrassed. “She fell back into one of her workers, and they knocked a whole tray of cookies down. Cassandra called the police and said I assaulted her, and I told the police what happened, but they didn’t really believe me. Cassandra chose not to press charges, and we moved on. She apologized, I apologized, and that was it. I didn’t tell you about it because, one, I didn’t really think it would come up – and honestly, I was embarrassed.”

  I nodded towards the pile of crumpled up paper. “And, the pictures?” I asked.

  “I blocked her on Facebook as soon as I saw those in my inbox,” he said and handed me his phone. “Look for yourself.”

  I did. I wasn’t playing around at this point. He also pulled open the conversation I had seen only a bit of when I had spied at the hospital. He had ignored her several times. He never responded whenever she sent him flirtatious emojis, and there was even a whole conversation from a week or two before with Jim telling her to stop flirting – that he was married and didn’t find it cute.

  I felt awful. I sunk down in my seat. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked.

  “I just thought you had enough to worry about,” he said. “I just handle it, or at least, I thought I did. I ignored her advances, and I only ever went to the shop to get you those brownies. It was getting close to the point that I was going to tell you I couldn’t keep going back there, though. But, I started ordering them ahead of time so all I had to do was go and pick them up. And, I’m sure you noticed, I started buying them in bulk instead of just picking up one or two for you so that I wouldn’t have to go back as often.”

  Yeah, I had noticed that. I had just thought he was tired of always having to go out to get my brownies. “Jim, I’m sorry,” I said.

  “Kate, I’m sorry,” he said and reach
ed across the table to me to take my hand. “I should have just told you what was going on. I mean, it sure would have saved us both a lot of heartache. I was just embarrassed, and I didn’t want you to worry. I’m sorry I made you think that I would ever do something to hurt you. I love you, you know? I would never cheat on you, Kate.”

  I smiled at him. “I love you too. I just wish you would have talked to me about all of this. I think I’ve spent more time worrying about this than actually investigating the case your ex-girlfriend hired me for.”

  Jim shook his head. “Yeah, about that. I don’t want this to come out wrong because you’re an amazing detective and all, but I’m pretty sure she just hired you to bug me.”

  “I think you’re probably right,” I said and laughed. “It worked, though, didn’t it?”

  “It did,” he said. “But, that probably could have been resolved if I had just talked to you.” He shook his head and sat upright. “Gosh, Kate, I feel terrible. I feel so lucky to have you, you know? I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that. You’re beautiful, smart, sexy – and, you’re an amazing mom. I don’t want any woman but you. You know that, right?”

  “I do,” I said. “I guess a lot of this was just me being paranoid. I’ve felt really insecure, honestly. My body change so much from Laurie, and I got pregnant again so quick… I haven’t even finished losing all the baby weight from Laurie! Now, twins? I guess I just don’t feel like myself anymore.”

  “You’re still you, babe,” he said. “And, I really don’t care if you’re packing a few extra pounds. Heck, I don’t even care if you blow up like blueberry girl from Willy Wonka. You’re beautiful to me either way because you’re you.”

  “Look at you being all sweet,” I said, and he jumped up and hurried over to my side, pulling me up to my feet to give me a big hug and kiss. My toes curled a little. I rested my head on his chest, and he squeezed me tight. I had a good man there, and I knew it then. I really wanted to give Cassandra a black eye for putting me in this situation. She made me doubt my husband, and I hated it. I hated that I didn’t just trust him. But, I needed to let it go for the time being. Cassandra, albeit a bit of a tramp, was still my client, and I had promised to find out what had happened to Morgan.