Help Wanted

by David Bergantino

  Her loss.

  Slipping easily into the water (none of this toe-testing malarkey for him), Chester swam quickly to the deep end of the pool. The question of his future came to mind. Would it be sports? Acting? Actually, modeling appealed to him. It seemed to be the easiest money for the least effort. Just stand there and look beautiful. He could handle that.

  In the middle of his second lap, Chester remembered Shelby. More accurately, he remembered he was with someone, and Shelby's name came to mind a few seconds later. He often became distracted when he got to thinking about himself. No one else existed.

  He swam to the edge of the pool.

  "Hey! You coming in or what?" he whispered hoarsely to Shelby, who sat on the concrete nearby watching him swim. With his left hand, he splashed some water in her direction. She scooted back, giggling.

  "Stop that! I'll be in."

  "Okay, just don't make me wait too long," Chester told her as he fell backward into the water again and resumed swimming laps. Normally he wouldn't even care if the girl he was with joined him. He was happy to give his date something to watch. But Shelby was a special case. He wanted to get his revenge on Laura for dumping him.

  Chester suspected that when Laura found out he had been seeing Shelby on the sly, there would be big fireworks. Fireworks between him and Laura. And big, big fireworks between Laura and Shelby. Shelby, in her naïveté and eagerness to turn over a new leaf, didn't realize what she was doing.

  Which was just how Chester liked it.

  He knew that Doug had already tried, and failed, to inform Laura about what was going on. It was her utter disbelief that proved to Chester how effective his revenge would be. Even the painted message in the street, which he initially thought would give away the game too soon, had worked in his favor. Buck, that wacko, was no doubt behind that. Doug would never pull such a stunt; even Chester knew that. And if Laura was thinking clearly, she would realize that as well. No, it had to have been Buck. That's why he'd gone easy on Buck today at the pool. He had planned worse. But the guy had unknowingly helped him out. So Chester had felt charitable.

  But he felt no such charity toward Laura. He was almost ready to pull out his trump card: Shelby. So far, they had been very careful to conceal their activities. But Shelby was acting so giddy now with the excitement of it all, she wouldn't notice if Chester arranged a small slip.

  A slip that would reveal their relationship to Laura.

  As soon as Shelby dipped even one toe in the water, that would be the sign.

  "Come on," he called out suddenly from the middle of the pool. "I'm lonely in here."

  He looked out toward the black blot of the administration building. Shelby had been sitting there only minutes ago.

  Now she was gone.

  Chester swam to the edge of the pool. He called out, scanning the entire pool area. His eyes had by now adjusted to the darkness, but Shelby was nowhere in sight.

  "Hey, Shel!" he shouted, using his full voice. No response. "Come on, I'm not in the mood for this." He used the voice that usually brought an end to nonsense. Still Shelby did not appear. Nor did she giggle to indicate he should come find her. That would have been all right by Chester.

  But nothing.

  The only sounds were the gentle slosh of the water against the sides of the pool, a soft wind, and street sounds from the city beyond the concrete walls.

  Suddenly Chester was worried. Not for Shelby's safety. But what would happen to him if something had happened to her? Now, that would be the monkiest of wrenches in his plans.

  He started to pull himself out of the pool. That was when a dark shape detached itself from the administration building and moved toward him. Chester didn't see anything until it was almost upon him.

  By then it was too late.

  Two strong hands clamped onto Chester's shoulders and pushed him firmly backward. Instinctively Chester used his legs to shove himself out and away from his attacker. But the grip on his shoulders was too strong. The hands did not let go. The attacker wasn't even pulled into the water. Chester only succeeding in pulling muscles in both his legs.

  The next moment, Chester's head was underwater. He struggled and thrashed, but to no avail. The arms that held him down were solid as granite and just as impervious to his blows. And unlike earlier when he had dunked Buck, Chester was not being allowed back up to the surface.

  Finally it dawned on Chester that he was about to drown.

  Impossible! his mind shouted. I have a life of beaches, babes, and bodybuilding to live. Standing around, looking good, and getting paid for it. It was the American dream. Where'd this nightmare come from?

  All these thoughts and more swam upstream desperately against an increasingly strong current of despair.

  Then the pain began. His chest was clenched in a vise as strong as the hands on his shoulders. These were his lungs crying out for air, and his diaphragm contracting to force him to breathe. Chester felt like a tube of toothpaste being squeezed from the bottom.

  But it wasn't toothpaste that oozed out of him.

  It was his life.

  Chapter 13

  Laura was roughly awakened just after three A.M. As her mother threw a robe at her and dragged her into the car, Laura could barely comprehend what was being said.

  Chester had been murdered.

  Shelby in the hospital after some sort of seizure.

  The murderer also found dead at the scene.

  It was only at the hospital that the story was told more fully. But it still made no sense.

  A police officer told Laura and her mother that they answered a complaint about pool jumpers at the municipal pool during the night. "When we arrived on the premises, we heard nothing and almost left, figuring that if there had been any trespassers, they had been scared off. Then, just by chance, one of the other officers looked in and saw Chester floating facedown in the middle of the pool.

  "Then," the officer continued, "we spotted another body near the edge of the pool. This turned out to be Warner Holbert. Beside his body, scrawled in his own blood, were the words 'Help Wanted.' "

  Laura gasped. Her mother sat down. "But what about Shelby?" Laura stammered.

  "We found her unconscious, lying near the turnstiles of the locker room. At first we thought she was dead. Her face was covered with blood. Her breathing was shallow, but she was alive."

  The doctor walked in and took it from there.

  "Shelby seems to have suffered a massive seizure, due to a previously undiscovered injury presumably sustained in her recent car accident. Had she complained of feeling unwell lately?" the doctor asked, but he continued before Laura could answer. "Anyway, the episode caused a nosebleed, which explains the blood."

  The police officer wrapped up the bizarre tale. "As best as we can determine, Shelby must have had her seizure and collapsed without Chester ever knowing about it and before the arrival of the killer. She was hidden well enough that the killer never saw her. Otherwise, she surely would have been killed as well."

  "As it is," the doctor said gravely, "she is in a coma. But in stable condition otherwise. We need to give her some time."

  Laura was in shock and could not speak. Somehow, her mother found the strength to ask more questions. The main mystery turned out to be how Warner Holbert had died.

  "Heart attack, most likely," the doctor said hesitantly, after exchanging a strange glance with the police officer. "We haven't had much time to figure it out, you understand. Our first priority was your daughter, then the Carter boy. We'll have the rest of the puzzle sorted out by late morning, I expect." But he didn't appear too confident.

  With that, the doctor and the police officer escorted both Walcutt women to Shelby's room. Laura almost cried when she saw her sister. She was hooked up to many more machines than she had been the last time. And her face seemed agonized rather than peaceful. Dried blood caked the inside of her nostrils.

  * * *

  On the way home, both women cried. L
aura's tears flowed for her sister's condition, but for other reasons as well. Self-pity was a big one. Doug was another. He had been telling the truth all along. Shelby had been seeing Chester behind Laura's back. Why else would Shelby have been at the pool at that time of night? Shelby had lied. Repeatedly. And Doug had been punished for it. Laura had even gone so far as to suspect him of murder.

  How would he ever forgive her?

  Laura didn't even attempt to sleep when she returned home. She made coffee and read as the minutes crawled by. As soon as she could, she would go back to the hospital. While she kept a vigil for Shelby, she would figure out what to say to Doug. It would take more than a simple apology to make up for her behavior.

  Somehow, Laura's mother forced herself to go to work the next morning, taking some comfort in knowing that Laura would be at the hospital.

  Laura arrived at the hospital the minute visiting hours began. She held her sister's hand, praying for her to wake up. At least, she thought, this seemed to mark the end of the epidemic of violence that had been plaguing them. With Warner Holbert found, identified as the murderer, and too dead to be killing anyone else, the chain of death seemed to be broken. Still, there were wounds to be healed. If she came out of this, Shelby would have to justify the deceitful behavior that had nearly gotten her killed. And Laura had a lot to make up to Doug.

  But by the time noon rolled around, Shelby's eyes remained closed, and Laura had come no closer to figuring out how to approach Doug.

  The door opened, and Buck entered.

  "You okay?" he whispered, kneeling next to Laura. She could only shrug sadly. "Come out to the hall with me," Buck urged her. "I have to tell you something."

  When Laura's eyes lit with panic, Buck assured her that they wouldn't go far or be out of the room for long. Finally she followed him out the door.

  "More news on the pipeline that I think you should know," he told her. "This isn't even going to be in the paper until the police can find a plausible story to replace it with." He took a deep breath before he explained. "They did an autopsy on Warner Holbert. He's been dead for several days. He couldn't have killed anyone."

  "But he was found at the pool this morning," Laura pointed out. "And what about his blood at the murder scene?"

  "The police are working on a pretty gruesome theory, from what I've heard." He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, as if he had eaten something foul. His eyes darted around the corridor, to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "They think Holbert had a heart attack and died the night he disappeared from the hospital. They think someone — the real murderer — took his body from the hospital and hid it while the murders were taking place."

  "But why in the world…?" Laura stammered. "What about his blood?"

  "You don't want to know," Buck said. But Laura insisted she did. "They think the murderer took a bottle of blood with him and used it to implicate Holbert. Up until now, it's worked."

  "Then why dump the body now?"

  "Whoever it was probably didn't have a large enough refrigerator. The body was getting pretty rank, so the real killer decided to get rid of it before the stink gave him away."

  Laura was flabbergasted by the theory. It was morbid. Sickening. But it made sense. There was only one thing missing.

  "Why?" she asked. "Why would anyone do this?"

  "I don't really know," Buck told her. "Maybe there is no reason." He shrugged, unable — or unwilling — to say more.

  Just then, Doug appeared, running down the hall toward them.

  "I just heard," he said breathlessly as he reached them. Laura didn't resist as he swept her into a rocking embrace. She immediately burst into tears. His compassion was unexpected — and undeserved. "It's all right," he whispered into her ear. The show of affection visibly unnerved Buck.

  "Wha… What are you doing here?" Buck sputtered.

  Doug released Laura but kept his arm around her shoulders. To her it seemed perfectly natural.

  "Laura and Shelby are my friends," Doug told him, surprised at the question. "Why else?"

  "So you don't hate me?" Laura asked him tearfully.

  Doug laughed and shook his head. "Of course not!"

  "Hey!" Buck interrupted manically. "You can't just barge in here." To Laura he pleaded, "Remember what he did to you. And me, too, unless there were two paint vandals that day."

  "What's your problem?" Doug asked, driven quickly to the near-breaking point.

  "Calm down, Buck," Laura cautioned. "Doug didn't do anything. He didn't lie about Chester and Shelby, and he would never attack me."

  "What about me?" Buck asked angrily. "He's been wanting me out of the picture since the night of his party."

  "What are you talking about?" Laura was astounded.

  "He'd never get anywhere with you with me around, and he knew it." Buck started to pace as if he were a trial lawyer delivering a final summation. "So he's been trying to drive me away."

  "You're nuts!" Doug shouted. "If anything, someone's been trying to drive me and Laura apart. I thought it was Chester." He lowered his voice and stared straight at Buck. "I'm beginning to change my mind."

  Buck stopped pacing and met Doug's stare. Laura looked from one to the other. Impending violence was thick in the air.

  "He's the crazy one, Laura," Buck growled. "Remember the cut on his finger? Bet he's got some burns from cooking oil, too. You like your fries extra crispy, or just your ex-girlfriends?"

  Without warning, Doug swung at Buck. Laughing, Buck easily dodged the blow and hammered Doug in the stomach. Doug doubled over and nearly collapsed. Buck was about to deliver another blow, but Laura stepped between them.

  "Stop it!" she cried.

  "Did you see that?" Buck asked breathlessly, his adrenaline pumping. "He attacked me."

  "You baited him, Buck." Laura was furious. She wrapped her arms around Doug, who was gasping for breath.

  Then it came to her. She realized what had seemed odd at the pool yesterday.

  "How did you know about the cut on Doug's finger?" she asked warily.

  Buck was still pumped up and didn't see the trap. "At the pool. Why?"

  "We never got close enough to see," she told him. Buck's eyes went wide. "It only happened the day before, and you didn't even see Doug the day before, unless…" She released Doug and pointed at Buck's face. "You followed us to the mansion, didn't you? You stole the paint and did those terrible things to make me think Doug did them." Images of Allison, Rayne, and Chester suddenly floated before her. Buck had a reason to kill every one of them.

  And his reason was to prove himself to her.

  "What else did you do, Buck? What else did you do!"

  Buck recoiled like a vampire from a cross. Then, seeing the terror in her eyes, he seemed to read her thoughts. He straightened up, a dark smile on his face. His eyes bored into her.

  "Wouldn't you like to know?" he purred. "Pray you don't ever find out." With a sneer, Buck spun on his heels and hurried away.

  Laura turned to Doug. "Did you hear that? He did it! He killed them. And now he knows I know."

  Doug shook his head. "He's bluffing, Laura."

  "Did you see his eyes?" she cried. "I can't just let him get away with it!" Then she almost laughed despite her upset. A week ago, she would have been more than happy to let Buck go.

  "I'm sure there's nothing he'd like more than for you to falsely accuse him of murder. You'll make a fool out of yourself. It's exactly want he wants."

  Doug held her by the shoulders, to keep her from running off. For a moment, she considered elbowing Doug in the stomach to get away. But the look in his eyes stopped her. He was very concerned for her at this moment. And Laura realized she was very close to losing control of herself.

  "But what if you're wrong?" Laura asked, still very much afraid.

  "You haven't believed a word I've said for days," Doug said with a kind smile. "But trust me on this one, if only because you owe me."

  "Okay," she told him, and he hugged
her close.

  * * *

  Doug remained at the hospital with Laura for the rest of the day. Her mother joined the vigil for a while after work, but then left because she was exhausted. So was Laura, but she wouldn't leave until the nurses told her that visiting hours were over and made her go. They insisted Shelby would be all right. Her condition hadn't improved, but she was stable.

  At least Buck hadn't shown his face after that last encounter. She didn't share her fears with Doug, but part of the reason she had stayed so long was that she didn't want Shelby to be left alone. Buck knew his way around the hospital, and he was predictably unpredictable. Who knew what was really going on in his head, or what he would do to get back at Laura for rejecting him. Because now she had rejected him.

  Over the course of the day, she had come to see the difference between Buck and Doug. The contrast was stark. And suddenly the planets had aligned. Doug and Laura were at the same place now. By the time they left, Doug knew that, too. And best of all, neither had to say a word. It was simply understood.

  * * *

  Doug followed Laura home, and when they got there, Laura found a note from her mother. She had gone to bed early, and had taken a couple of sleeping pills to help her. She'd be out for the night.

  "That means we can listen to speed metal at high volume, and she still won't wake up," Laura joked. She was caught in a whirlwind of excitement, relief, fear, and sadness. Sleep seemed like a good idea. But she didn't want Doug to leave just yet.

  He agreed to stay and watch a movie with her. Turning off all the lights in the living room, they pretended they were in a movie theater and lost themselves in the movie. When it was over, Laura couldn't remember at what point they had started holding hands.

  She was happy.

  Then the phone rang.

  "Heya, gorgeous," drawled a sardonic voice.

  "What do you want, Buck?" Laura answered calmly. Doug heard and came right over. He started to take the receiver away from her, but she wouldn't let him.