Mr. and Mrs. Wrong

by Fay Robinson

  “Most people know each other round here. I went to that church myself before the river destroyed the building. My ancestors were among those who settled out that way. The Akers, the Mathisons, the Bagwells, the Olenicks…”

  “He had opportunity. My in-laws don’t remember seeing him in church that morning.”

  “They won’t remember seeing me, either. Had a toothache and stayed home.”

  “Was Bagwell a suspect at any time?”

  “Not that I remember, and my memory’s pretty good. That autistic boy, Terrell Wade, was our primary suspect, and I focused my investigation on him. ’Course he’s not a boy anymore.”

  That was procedure—to pursue the obvious—but Jack wondered if, in this case, it had resulted in the wrong man being accused.

  “I’ve looked for the files and the evidence, but nobody seems to know what’s happened to them. They aren’t in the locker where they ought to be.”

  “An old case like that…we’ve probably discarded them.”

  Jack let out an incredulous breath. “We toss evidence?”

  “We’re a small town, son. We do the best we can with what we have, but our best isn’t always good enough. You see how space is at a premium here.”

  “I understand that, but I’m surprised we can’t find room to store evidence on an unsolved murder case, regardless of how much time has passed.”

  “We should, and it might be back there somewhere, but it might also have been thrown away. Much as I’d like a new building, I felt it was more important to put what money the city budgets us into manpower, equipment and vehicles rather than facilities.”

  “Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to sound critical.”

  “Don’t apologize. You’re young and bright and you’re used to a professional environment. That’s why I hired you. You’ll help us modernize. You’ve already made major leaps in your division.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now about this case… What are you looking for?”

  “Do you recall any details of the investigation?”

  “Oh, vividly. Most frustrating case I’ve ever had. She simply vanished.” The chief spent several minutes telling Jack about the search for the body, how the only evidence was Wade’s appearance at the church and the bloody hat he carried. Wade had gone missing that morning from his house. He often disappeared, Akers said. His mother called two or three times a week asking if patrol could look out for him and bring him home.

  “You never found the crime scene?”

  “Not the first clue. The murder, if she was murdered, didn’t happen at her house. We did determine that. I think she drove out to the woods or the river that morning to pick a bit of decoration for her hat for church. She ran into Wade. Or maybe he was in the car with her already. He tried to sexually assault her, she fought, and he killed her. He may not even have meant to do it.”

  Plausible but weak. “Did you know her personally?”

  He nodded. “I visited her school quite a bit and got to know her. She was a nice lady. Sweet. Friendly.”

  “Attractive? I can’t tell from the newspaper clippings.”

  “Very.”

  “Attractive enough to inspire a married man to be foolish?”

  “Yes,” Akers said, his expression changing, “she was that attractive. A real beauty. Men liked her.”

  “And did she like men?”

  He paused before answering. “I’d say she did. Her flirting caused problems in more than one marriage.”

  The tone of his voice made Jack wonder if the chief’s marriage had been among them. “At the time of her death, who was she seeing?”

  “Someone special, according to her friends. Someone she was in love with. Married, but they didn’t know his name. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree with Charlie, if you want my opinion. I never found anything that pointed to him as being her lover.”

  “Are you convinced Terrell Wade killed her?”

  “I am.”

  The telephone rang and he asked Jack to excuse him for a moment, but not to step out. Jack was about finished, though, so he stood.

  Guessing from the end of the conversation Jack could hear, the caller was the chief’s wife. “…yes, he’s…uh-huh. Oh, no, sugar, I don’t mind a bit.” He chuckled, looked up at Jack and winked. “You tell me what you want. Uh-huh. The hot ones?” He started writing on the pad in front of him. “And what else? Oh, boy. You planning on putting those together, are you?” He grimaced and chuckled at the same time. “That it? I sure will. You take care.” He hung up. “Pregnant women. They’re a hoot, aren’t they?”

  “Your…wife’s pregnant?” Jack tried to ask delicately, but the man had to be in his late fifties or early sixties, and Jack’s surprise was stronger than his tact.

  The chief roared with laughter. “Oh, hell, no, son. Your wife. She’s cute as a button. I always did like that girl.”

  “That was Lucky?”

  “Couldn’t get you, so they switched her up here. Told her I’d give you the message to quit dawdling.”

  “I’m sorry she bothered you. We’re supposed to celebrate our first anniversary tonight, and I guess she’s wondering where I am.”

  “Well, you go on. Don’t keep that sweet angel waiting any longer.” He tore off the note and handed it to him. “And stop by the store. She’s craving a little treat.”

  Jack looked at the list. Sardines in chili sauce. Rocky Road ice cream. He groaned with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

  “Ah, now, don’t you be mad at her. Talking to her was the highlight of this old man’s day.”

  Jack thanked him for his help, walked to the door and then turned. “If you think of anything else, I’d appreciate hearing about it.”

  “Are you reopening the Olenick case?”

  “I don’t know that there’s reason to officially. I’m trying to satisfy my own curiosity more than anything…and Lucky’s. She’s been upset ever since Wade came home.”

  “I can understand that.”

  “There’s more.” He told him about the encounter she’d had with Wade in the slough, and how Lucky was now questioning whether or not he was a killer. “I’d like to ease her mind about what she did as a child and to know, for my own peace of mind, whether or not she’s in any danger from him. I want the truth.”

  “I understand. Do what you feel is necessary.” Akers cleared his throat. “There’s something you should know, though, if you plan to be digging around and asking questions. Talk to Matt. Ask him about his relationship with Eileen.”

  His father-in-law? Oh, hell. Dread eased up his spine. “Am I going to like what he tells me?”

  “Probably not, son, but the truth isn’t always pleasant.”

  LUCKY HAD SPENT most of the day in the water floating on an inner tube, but late that afternoon she’d showered and changed into shorts. On her way in, she saw a huge snapping turtle sunning himself on the crown of a submerged log thirty feet out from the end of the pier. She came out with one of her cameras, thrilled to capture him on film.

  Several shots later Beanie let out a howl and looked toward the house, indicating that Jack was coming down the dirt road. The dog was too fat to move quickly. She waited in wriggling anticipation as he parked and went inside the cabin to deposit his grocery sack.

  When he walked to the pier, the dog was all over him. Jack tried to keep her off his good pants, but it was hopeless. He gave up and returned the affection.

  “I want some of that,” Lucky said, tucking her camera under one arm and reaching out with the other. Jack obliged by grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close. As they kissed, she was nearly jerked off her feet. A jealous Beanie had grabbed her rubber flip-flop by the heel and was pulling it.

  “She’s jealous you’re getting my attention,” Jack said.

  Lucky wrestled away her shoe. “She’ll have to learn to share it.”

  In the house she dove into the sack he’d brought and pulled out the tin of sardin
es. Normally she could take or leave the things, but all afternoon she’d been thinking about a sardine and onion sandwich with ice cream as a chaser.

  “Uh-huh,” Jack said, taking them away. “Wait until I’m not here. Just the idea of you eating them makes me sick. The smell will kill me.”

  “But I’m hungry.” She took out the carton of ice cream. A dang pint. “Is this all you got? That bitty ol’ thing won’t feed a flea.”

  To her frustration, he took that away, too, and stuck it in the freezer. “Save it for later. We have dinner reservations at seven.”

  The new dress she’d bought for the occasion was blue silk but without a waistline, since hers had started to expand. A little cantaloupe now inhabited the place where her flat stomach used to be. The neckline dipped to show off her newly acquired cleavage.

  Dressing up in something this fancy felt odd, but Jack had insisted.

  “Nice,” he said. He ran his finger along one breast and into the V. “Those must’ve come with the dress. I don’t recall seeing them before.”

  She chuckled and slapped away his hand. “And you won’t see them again if you don’t quit teasing me.”

  The restaurant he took her to was lovely. She had to admit she’d been wrong to suggest they stay home tonight. The atmosphere was romantic, the food excellent.

  He seemed nervous all through dinner. After dessert he took a jewelry box from his pocket. She’d hinted for a pair of nice earrings, and he’d let her believe that was what she’d be getting, so when he pulled a diamond ring from the box, she was stunned.

  “I don’t remember the exact moment I fell in love with you,” he said, taking her left hand, “but I remember the exact moment I realized I was in love. You’d flown up for the weekend and we’d spent most of the night doing what we always did when we were together. I woke up before you did the next morning. You were snoring in my ear.”

  Lucky blushed, embarrassed. “Oh, how horrible.”

  “No, it was sweet. And that’s when I realized I must love you, because I wanted to wake up the same way every morning.”

  Ignoring where they were, he came around and got down on one knee beside her chair. The other diners turned to watch. And smile. “Oh, Jack…you don’t have to.”

  “Yes, I do. I messed up the first time. No ring. No engagement. I didn’t make you happy. But I promise, this time will be different if you’ll give me the chance. Erin Renee Mathison, will you marry me?”

  EVEN IN MOONLIGHT the ring sparkled. Lucky held out her hand for the thousandth time and twisted it one way and then the other, enjoying the flash of light.

  Jack stood above her looking through the telescope she’d bought him as an anniversary present. When they’d gotten home, they’d changed clothes and set it up on a flat spot in the front yard. He was fascinated by what he saw through the lens and hardly remembered she was there.

  Finally he left it and sat down beside her on the blanket she’d spread. “You checked for poisonous plants before putting this down, I hope. If I never go through that misery again, it’ll be too soon.”

  “Free and clear of poison, milord. I chased off the snakes, too.”

  “Not funny. You know how I feel about those things.”

  “I don’t understand how somebody with a third-degree black belt in tae kwon do can be afraid of a snake.”

  “Easily. They have fangs and they can kill you.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” She kissed him softly on the cheek. “I love my ring.”

  “I’m glad. I was worried you might not accept it, but we’ve been courting two months and it’s time to take the next step.”

  “Two months isn’t very long.”

  “I never claimed to be a patient man.”

  “No, no one could accuse you of that.”

  “We’re making this work, aren’t we? We’re not fighting. You told me you’ve been happy.”

  “Yes, but that’s because we haven’t really addressed the major problems we were fighting about before. Like my continuing to work at the Register. Like…the cabin. It’s easy for me to be happy when you’re giving me everything I want.”

  “We’ll work those things out.”

  “Kind of hard to work them out when we never talk about them.”

  His silence was revealing.

  “Jack, don’t close up on me.”

  He lay down with his hands behind his head. “I’ve been afraid to talk,” he admitted. “I don’t want to mess up what we have.”

  “I know. I keep telling myself that, given time, everything will resolve itself, but we don’t have the luxury of time, at least about the cabin. Pretty soon we’ll have to buy a crib and start fixing up a room for this baby, and I don’t want to fight with you over where that’s going to be.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you, either.”

  “When you started making repairs around the cabin I thought…he’s come to like it here and wants to stay, but I know I was fooling myself. You’d move tomorrow if I said the word, wouldn’t you?” He didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to. “I thought so. You hate it here.”

  “I don’t hate it, Lucky. It’s just not what I imagined for myself when I got married and had a child.”

  “What did you imagine?”

  “A nice house, nothing extravagant. A bedroom for us. A couple of bedrooms for kids. A family room of some kind. Maybe some actual grass in the yard.”

  “In town, I suppose.”

  “Not necessarily. I’d settle for land on the river as long as the house is good, we can connect to city services and we don’t have to worry about getting flooded out. I’m not asking you to sell this place. We could keep it to pass down to one of our children. I know how much it means to you.”

  No, he could never know how much. Not in a million years. Her earliest memory was sitting in a baby swing on this very spot, wearing a diaper and a little sun hat. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen months old, but she remembered the beautiful water, the sun glinting off its surface, the graceful trees all around her that seemed to be waving hello in the wind….

  She loved this land.

  But she loved this man more.

  “Okay. I’ll agree to look for a house and we’ll move. But it has to be on the river.”

  He sat up abruptly. “Say that again.”

  “Find us a house. I’ll move if that’s what will make you happy. As long as I can keep this place and stay here now and then.”

  “You’re serious!”

  “I am. You’ve committed to this marriage. I guess it’s time I did, too.”

  JACK WAS SO EXCITED he couldn’t stop talking about the house. He’d had a picture of it in his head for years—the yard, the rooms, the den where his children would lie on the carpet watching TV. Even after they settled into bed, he got a notebook and sketched out a floor plan. He showed it to Lucky and told her he’d call a real-estate agent on Monday to start the search.

  She promptly burst into tears.

  “Oh, hell, what did I say?” He held her and tried to comfort her. “We don’t have to start looking right away.”

  “No, it’s not that.” She couldn’t stop sobbing. “The baby. I just felt it.”

  “What?” Delighted, he put his hand on her stomach. “What does it feel like?”

  “Feathers tickling me on the inside. Oh! There it goes again.” She cried harder. “I’m really pregnant.”

  He held her, not understanding. “Of course you’re pregnant, sweetheart. Did you think you swallowed a watermelon?”

  “Don’t make me laugh. I don’t want to laugh.”

  “Tell me why you’re crying.”

  “Because I’m really going to have a baby.”

  “I thought you understood that weeks ago. The little sperm wiggled its way into the egg and—”

  “Oh, sometimes you’re such a man. I hate it.”

  She fled to the bathroom and locked the door. From the other side, he could hear
her crying, and it confounded him.

  “Lucky, come on. Whatever I said or did, I’m sorry.”

  She wouldn’t answer. He threw up his hands and left her alone. Beanie, confused by all the commotion, had come in from her pallet in the kitchen. She rested her chin on the bed and looked at him as if to ask, “What’s going on?”

  “Don’t ask me. I’m a man and therefore clueless.” He sent the dog back to the kitchen.

  After a while he heard the water running, and a minute later Lucky slipped into bed. Turning, she put her arm across his chest. He pulled her close.

  “Better?”

  “Yes,” she said, but she still sniffled. “I’m sorry. That was silly.”

  “Don’t worry about it. The booklet from the doctor said you’d get irritable and weepy these next few months.”

  “Don’t start being a man again, or I’m going to have to hit you.”

  “Sorry. Did I do something to make you cry?”

  “No. Go to sleep. We’re both tired.”

  “I’d rather hear what got you so upset.”

  “You’ll think I’m terrible if I tell you.”

  “No, I won’t. I love you too much to ever think you’re terrible.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  She sat up, so Jack raised himself on his elbow. “When I found out I was pregnant, I was afraid this baby would end our marriage. I resented it a little bit. At first I thought you only came home because of it and not me.”

  “You know that’s not true.”

  “I do now, but I didn’t then.”

  “I’d already pretty much decided to move back in. Another week of sleeping alone would’ve done it.”

  “Really?”

  “No doubt about it. I was running out of things to pretend I’d left behind.” She wiped her eyes with her hand and chuckled, letting him know the crisis was about over. “So what made you cry tonight?” he whispered. “Can you tell me?”

  “I guess its because all these weeks I haven’t wanted to care about the baby or accept that it truly exists. I’ve been scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “Of our situation. Of failing. Maybe even scared of the responsibility—being someone’s mother. But when I felt the baby move tonight, it hit me. This is real. A living little person. Our child. I realized that, despite my fear, I’d come to want him or her very much.”